Weed science has a long history of solving weed management problems for farmers. Over the last four decades most of the solutions to weed problems have been based on herbicide technology. Thus, most crop production systems in the United States rely heavily on herbicides as the primary method of weed management. During the last decade environmentalists, farmers, agricultural scientists, policy makers, and the general public have begun to question the long-term sustainability of conventional farming systems. The sustainability of these systems is being questioned because of environmental, social, and economic concerns caused by global competition, cost of production, soil erosion, water pollution, and concern over the quality of rural life. Weeds are the major deterrent to the development of more sustainable agriculture systems. Since weeds dictate most of the crop production practices (e.g., tillage, herbicides, cultivation, row spacing) weed scientists must become the leaders of collaborative integrated approaches to agriculture systems research. New crop production systems must be developed that are less destructive to the environment, are profitable, conserve energy, and support rural community development. The goal is to facilitate the development of ecologically based alternative methods of weed management that will support crop production systems that require less tillage and herbicide inputs. To accomplish this goal, research efforts must be radically expanded in weed/crop ecology and in the development of ecologically based technologies for weed management.

During 1992, the Research Committee of the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) prepared a list of research needs for the discipline of weed science. The identified needs fit well with the recommendations of the Future Directions for Weed Science Symposium held in Washington D.C. on April 15, 1993, thus are provided as a supplement to the Symposium publication. The Research Committee concluded weed science research should focus on increasing knowledge related to the economic and biological impact of weeds across a wide variety of environments (crop production, forestry, right-of-way and aquatic). An increased understanding of the biology, ecology and genetics of weeds is needed to optimize their management. Research on control of weeds with biological agents and natural products should be conducted with emphasis on optimizing performance in the field environment. The development of weed populations resistant to chemical and biological control agents should be studied so the occurrence of such populations can be minimized. Because herbicides will continue to be the primary basis of weed management for the foreseeable future, research is needed to optimize herbicide application technology and to minimize their impact on the environment, particularly related to surface and groundwater contamination. Finally, new and reliable methods to detect herbicide residues in water, soil and vegetation are needed.

There is no question that weeds negatively impact human endeavors, both in agricultural and non-agricultural environments. The need for weed population management is inarguable. The important issue is “how will we manage weeds in the future”? Will it be business as usual, or will we be able to develop and implement a fully integrated approach to weed management? If Weed Science is to become a full partner in utilizing the concepts of Integrated Pest Management, there are at least four research areas that must be significantly strengthened. These research areas include: biology and ecology of weeds and crop/weed interactions, economic thresholds for weeds, alternative weed control methodology, and information delivery systems. New or non-traditional sources of funding will be required to adequately address these important issues.

Ivy flowers beside me peep
Upward through the ether blue,
Seeing stars which ever keep
Hidden close from human view.