Learning Module

in
Crop Protection 111
Principles of Crop Protection
(Weed Science Phase)

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture

CLARK I. MAARAT
(Compiler)

2020
 Learning Module
in
Crop Protection 111
Principles of Crop Protection
(Plant Pathology Phase)

Clark I. Maarat
RC Jan B. Evangelista
Bernadith T. Borja
Joeseph Quisado
Joseph Castillo
Evelyn P. Esteban
(Faculty)

2020
 Table of Contents

Title Page

Preliminary Pages
USM VMGO iii
Notice of Ownership iv
Author’s Declaration iv
Users Guide v
Course Guide vi

Overview 1
Intended Learning Outcomes 1
Take Off 1

Content Focus 1

Self Check 10

Self Reflect 11

Reference 11

About the Author/Compiler 12

 USM Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives
Vision:

Quality and relevant education for its clientele to be globally competitive, culture sensitive
and morally responsive human resources for sustainable development.

Mission:

Help accelerate the socio-economic development promote harmony among diverse

communities and improve the quality of life through instruction, research, extension and
resource generation in Southern Philippines.

Core Values:
G - Goodness
R - Responsiveness
E - Excellence
A - Assertion of right and
T - Truth

Goals

Assumes a prime role in pursuing a culture of excellence in agricultural instruction, research,

extension and production activities. It endeavors to train morally upright men and women
who will be leaders in various fields of agricultural education, science and technology.

Objectives

Produce graduates who are locally and globally competitive; develop or train manpower
resources who will provide moral leadership in the socio-economic and agri-industrial
development of Southern Philippines, in support of national development endeavors.

USM Quality Policy Statement

The University of Southern Mindanao, as a premier university, is committed to provide

quality instruction, research development and extension services and resource generation that
exceed stakeholders’ expectations through the management of continual improvement efforts
on the following initiatives:

1. Establish Key Result Areas and performance indicators across all mandated functions;
2. Implement quality educational programs;
3. Guarantee competent educational programs;
4. Spearhead need-based research outputs for commercialization, publication, patenting and
develop technologies for food security, climate change mitigation and improvement in the
quality of life;
5. Facilitate transfer of technologies generated from research to the community for
sustainable development;
6. Strengthen relationship with stakeholders;
7. Sustain good governance and culture sensitivity; and
8. Comply to customer regulatory and statutory requirements.
 Notice of Ownership
Ideas, concepts, diagrams and/or illustrations depicted in this learning
material are excerpts from established references and properly noted in the list
of literature cited herein. The author in this learning material remains a
compiler and does not claim full or authentic ownership of all the contents of
this module, nor in any manner wilfully infringe the copyright law and other
existing provisions appertaining thereto.

This Learning Material is printed for the sole use of classroom or

Distance/Remote learning of USM and is not intended for commercial
purposes. Any use or reproduction in part or in full, other than what it is
intended for requires the consent of authorized and competent authority of the
University of Southern Mindanao.
 Users Guide

CONGRATULATIONS for enrolling in Crop Protection 111 (Principles of Crop Protection).

Please read and understand this course guide carefully and completely.

This course is supposed to be taken by BSA students who are in first year during first
semester of the academic year. This course guide was prepared for you to familiarize
yourselves with what are to be done until the end of the semester. This guide will also
orient you about all the necessary information about the course for this is a guide format of
the course syllabus. Again, to avoid further questions and confusions, read carefully this
guide for these already gave the answers to uncertainties. In any case that you find some
parts very confusing that this guide cannot answer, please do not hesitate to contact the
faculty-in-charge to address urgent and important matters. Feel free to send any messages
in any forms of communication tools. But be sure to read this guide completely before you
can have questions with the faculty-in-charge. Since we will not meet as a class physically, I
highly advised and remind you to read and consult this course guide from time to time so
that you will not get lost in the process of learning. As an enrolled student to this course,
you are expected to give your best in completing the tasks to achieve the outcomes and
fulfill all the requirements.

Good luck to all and have a productive semester!!!

 Course Guide

COURSE DETAILS
Course Title Principles of Crop Protection
Course Curriculum
Crop Prot 111 Core Courses
Number Component
Credit (-- LECTURE LABORATORY
3 2
Unit) (Unit-Hours) (Unit-Hours)
Year
Prerequisites None Co-requisites None Level/Semester
Offered
Course Evaluation
Assessment Task Weigh Satisfactor
Course Outcomes (CO) Target Standard
Addressing CO t (%) y Rating
Written Exams 50 75 60% of the
CO 1: Explain relationship of
student have
world population and food Laboratory Exams 50 score of 60% of
supply
the total item

Laboratory Exams 50 75 60% of the

CO 2: Relate the concept of pest
student have
and its economic Written Exams 50
score of 60% of
importance
the total item

CO 3: Characterize major pest Laboratory Exams 50 75 60% of the

groups (Plant pathogens, Written Exams 50 student have
Arthropods and vertebrate score of 60% of
pests and Weeds) and the total item
natural enemies
CO 4: Associate the concept. Laboratory Exams 50 75 60% of the
Strategies and practices of student have
Integrated Pest Written Exams 50 score of 60% of
Management as a the total item
response to pest attack
Grading System
 Final grade will be the average grade between the 3 phases of crop protection.
 Final lecture grade of a phase will be the average of quizzes, exams, assignments and projects.
 Final laboratory grade of a phase will be the average of laboratory exercises, laboratory
examinations and reports.
 Final grade in a phase will be the average between Final lecture grade and Final laboratory grade
 Passing score in all examinations and quizzes will be 60%. Passing grade: 3.0 to 1.0; Failed: 5.0; INC:
(lacking in some requirements and missed examinations)
 Module 1
Weed Science and the Concept of Weeds,
Weed Classification and Identification

Overview

This module covers the very basic about weeds, its origins as a discipline, basic
terminologies, how to classify and identify.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module, the learners are expected to:

1. Characterize the effects of weeds and recognize its importance

2. Categorize the harmful and beneficial effects of weeds
2. Classify and identify weeds according to morphology, life cycle, and habitat.

Take Off

During our younger years, we are always encountering various plants especially
when we go in the field. Most of the plants that we encounter are the thing that we are
taking for granted. We frequently see them but are not taking great attention. For the
farmers, these plants are sometimes a source of their headaches since it will cause losses in
their yield. Now that you’re studying Agriculture as a course, we will now appreciate their
importance in the field that we choose.

Content Focus

Weed Science - is a scientific discipline concerned with plants that may be

considered weeds, their effects on human activities, and their management "a branch of
applied ecology that attempts to modify the environment against natural evolutionary
trends."

History
Weeds have existed since humans began settled agriculture have existed since the advent of
settled agriculture around 10,000 years ago it is been suggested that the most common
characteristic of the ancestors of our presently dominant crop plants is their willingness—
their tendency to be successful, to thrive, in disturbed habitats, mostly those around human
dwellings. Farmers have likely always been aware of weeds in their crops, although the
evidence for their awareness and concern is nearly all anecdotal.
Unlike other agricultural sciences like entomology or plant pathology, the emergence of
weed science is comparatively recent, occurring largely within the 20th century and
coinciding with the development of herbicides.
Weeds are controlled in much of the world by hand (roguing) or with crude hoes. The size of
a farmer's holding and yield per unit area are limited by several things and paramount
among them is the rapidity with which a family can weed its crops. More human labor may
be expended to weed crops than on any other single human enterprise, and most of that
labor is expended by women. Weed control in the Western world and other developed
areas of the world is done by sophisticated machines and by substituting chemical energy
(herbicides) for mechanical and human energy. There is a relationship between the way
farmers control weeds and the ability of a nation to feed its people. Successful weed
management is one of the essential ingredients to maintain and increase food production.
In 1923, Clark and Fletcher suggested that the "annual losses due to the occurrence of
pernicious weeds on farm land in Canada, although acknowledged in a general way, are far
greater than is realized." They thought this was because "farmers gave little critical attention
to the weeds growing among their crops." They did not deny that farmers were aware of the
weeds only that they could do little about them. Many of the same weeds described by
Clark and Fletcher are shown in most current weed identification books. In spite of
continued research to mitigate weeds annually many of the same species continue to be
problematic. The first U.S. Congressional appropriation for weed control was made in 1901
for work on control of johnsongrass, 23 years after Congress had appropriated funds for
work on cotton insect pests. Petroleum-based herbicides were first used on California crop
land in 1924 and soon became widely accepted in Southwestern states. In 1942, oils were
used extensively for weed control in carrots and subsequently were used in forest nurseries.
French scientists sprayed apple trees with dinitro dyes to control mosses, algae, and lichens.
Some noticed that grasses that were wet from the spray did not die and that observation,
or, more likely, a series of observations, led to the use of dinitros as herbicides for selective
control of broadleaved weeds in cereals and flax. Sinox (sodium dinitro cresylate) was
developed by Pastac in 1933.[4] It was the first selective organic herbicide introduced in the
US. From the early 1930s until about 1945, it was used extensively in grains, clover hay,
grass seed crops, peas, cane berries, onions, and lawns.
Timmons, writing in 1970 reported that "available literature indicates that relatively few
agricultural leaders and farmers became interested in weeds as a problem before 1200 A.D.
or even before 1500 A.D." [5] The “critical attention” Clark and Fletcher thought was absent
increased slowly, primarily because the general attitude seemed to be that “weeds were a
curse which must be endured, and about which little could be done except by methods
which were incidental to crop production, and by laborious supplemental hand methods."
Jethro Tull, in 1731, appealed for greater attention to weeds:
It is needless to go about to compute the value of the damage weeds do, since all
experienced husbandmen know it to be very great, and would unanimously agree to
extirpate their whole race as entirely as in England they have done the wolves, though much
more innocent and less rapacious than weeds.

Farmers however were bound by their inability to do much about weeds except by laborious
hand methods.
Insects cause both human health and crop problems. Weeds, with a few exceptions, do not
cause direct harm to humans. Those that do such as poison ivy and poison oak can be
avoided. Poisonous weeds have never been widespread as a weed of crops nor of great
concern to the majority of people. Many weeds aggravated human allergies but many did
not and other common plants are also allergenic. Insects and insecticides were respectively
causes of and solutions to human disease problems. Weeds and herbicides were not and
less attention was paid to them. Weeds and herbicides were agricultural problems. They
were not of general societal concern. There were a few scientists interested in the study of
weeds and in developing techniques to reduce the crop losses caused by weeds. There were
only three full-time weed experts in 1934 and only a few part-time ones.
The first publication of 2,4-D's use as a selective herbicide came in 1944. The ability of 2,4-D
to control broadleaf weeds in turf was documented soon thereafter, in 1944. Starting in
1945, the American Chemical Paint Company brought 2,4-D to market as an herbicide called
"Weedone". It revolutionized weed control, as it was the first compound that, at low doses,
could selectively control dicotyledons (broadleaf plants), but not most monocotyledons —
narrowleaf crops, such as wheat, maize (corn), rice, and similar cereal grass crops. At a time
when labor was scarce and the need for increased food production was large, it literally
"replaced the hoe".
2,4-D is one of the ingredients in Agent Orange, an herbicide that was widely used during
the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. However, 2,3,7,8-
Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), a contaminant in the production of another ingredient in
Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T, was the cause of the adverse health effects associated with Agent
Orange.

By late 1951, 46 state agricultural experiment stations had active weed research programs
and most of them were working on weed control with herbicides. Now all colleges of
agriculture in land-grant universities have weed scientists and a well-developed weed
management program.
Weed science has been strongly influenced by herbicides and mechanical technology
developed by supporting industries, by research by weed scientists, and, ultimately, used by
farmers. Herbicides greatly expanded the opportunities and range of methods for
vegetation management and weed control. The definition accepted by the Weed Science
Society of America (WSSA) is “A chemical substance or cultured biological organism used to
kill or suppress the growth of plants.”
Weed scientists have tended to focus on results and progress. Modern agriculture in the
world's developed nations has addressed but not eliminated most weed problems through
extensive use of herbicides and the more recent development of herbicide resistant crops
through genetic modification. These methods while undeniably successful for their intended
purpose also have created environmental, non-target species, and human health problems.
Farmers in the world's developing nations use some herbicides but newer herbicides and
the necessary application technology are often unavailable or too expensive. Weeds are
always present in these farmer's fields but often the most available, affordable control
methods are mechanical weeding, usually with animal power, or by hand, and most of the
labor is provided by women. Neither the hypothesis that more energy is expended for the
weeding man's crops than for any other single human task nor the corollary hypothesis that
women do most of the world's weeding has been verified, but they are widely accepted.

1. Clark, G.H. and J. Fletcher. Farm weeds of Canada. Second edition. Revised and enlarged by G. H. Clark first published in
1909. Reprinted by Canada Department of Agriculture. Ottawa, Canada
 2. ^ Pastac, I. 1973. Les colorants nitres et leurs applications particulieres. J. De al Hutte Chemique Contre les Ennemis das
Cultures. 38:4.
3. ^ Timmons, F.L. 1970. A history of weed control in the United States and Canada. Weed Science 18:294-307. Republished
Weed Science 53:748-761. 2005

GOAL: The formulation of the most satisfactory, most efficient yet least expensive method
of controlling weeds.

Weed Science as a discipline begin when the herbicidal properties of 2, 4-D was discovered
in the US in the year 1944.

Weeds are general term for any plant growing where it is not wanted. Ever since humans
first attempted the cultivation of plants, they have had to fight the invasion by weeds into
areas chosen for crops. Some unwanted plants later were found to have virtues not
originally suspected and so were removed from the category of weeds and taken under
cultivation. Other cultivated plants, when transplanted to new climates, escaped cultivation
and became weeds or invasive species. The category of weeds thus is ever changing, and the
term is a relative one.

Weeds interfere with a variety of human activities, and many methods have been developed
to suppress or eliminate them. These methods vary with the nature of the weed itself, the
means at hand for disposal, and the relation of the method to the environment. Usually for
financial and ecological reasons, methods used on a golf course or a public park cannot be
applied on rangeland or in the forest. Herbicide chemicals sprayed on a roadside to
eliminate unsightly weeds that constitute a fire or traffic hazard are not proper for use on
cropland. Mulching, which is used to suppress weeds in a home garden, is not feasible on
large farms. Weed control, in any event, has become a highly specialized activity.
Universities and agricultural colleges teach courses in weed control, and industry provides
the necessary technology. In agriculture, weed control is essential for maintaining high
levels of crop production.

The many reasons for controlling weeds become more complex with the increasing
development of technology. Plants become weeds as a function of time and place. Tall
weeds on roadsides presumably were not problematic prior to the invention of
the automobile. However, with cars and increasing numbers of drivers on roads, tall weeds
became dangerous, potentially obscuring drivers’ visibility, particularly at intersections.
Sharp-edged grasses are nominal nuisances in a cow pasture; when the area is converted to
a golf course or a public park, they become an actual nuisance. Poison oak (Toxicodendron
diversilobum) is rather a pleasant shrub on a sunny hillside in the open country; in a camp
ground it is a definite health hazard. Such examples could be given ad infinitum to cover
every aspect of agriculture, forestry, highway, waterway and public land management,
arboretum, park and golf-course care, and home landscape maintenance.

(https://www.britannica.com/plant/weed)
Brief/summarized definitions of weeds:

1. Plants growing out of place

2. Plants that are unwanted, undesirable or useless
3. Plants that interfere with man or areas of his interest
4. Plants whose potentialities for harm is greater that its potentialities for good
5. Plants that are detrimental to agriculture rather than beneficial
6. Plants that have no economic value
7. Plants whose virtues have not been discovered (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
8. Plants which when allowed to develop in the system can cause financial loss in many
ways (Sagar, 1968)

Adverse Effects of Weeds

1. Reduced yield of crops due to competition for nutrients, water and light.
2. Increased cost for insect and disease control.
3. Reduced quality of products.
4. Increased cost of lawn maintenance and beautification projects.
5. Clog irrigation and drainage canals.
6. Imposed hazards to health.

Beneficial Effects of Weeds

1. Conserve soil moisture.

2. Add organic matter to the soil.
3. Prevent soil erosion especially in sloping areas.
4. Can be used as food especially the succulent ones.
5. Provide shelter to wildlife.
6. Provide excellent forage to animals.
7. Provide employment.
8. Provide physician and veterinarians with patients.
9. Are used as ornamental plants.

Classification of Weeds

There are over 30,000 weed species around the world, of which about 18,000 cause serious
losses (Rodgers, 1974). These weeds were classified as follows:

I. Based on life span/Life Cycle

Based on life span (Ontogeny), weeds are classified as Annual weeds, Biennial weeds and
Perennial weeds.

a. Annual Weeds

Weeds that live only for a season or a year and complete their life cycle in that season or
year are called as annual weeds.
These are small herbs with shallow roots and weak stems. Produces seeds in profusion and
the mode of propagation is commonly through seeds. After seeding, the annuals die away
and the seeds germinate and start the next generation in the next season or year following.

Most common field weeds are annuals.

Ipomea triloba Amarathus spinosus

Echinocloa colona Boerhavia erecta

b. Biennials

They complete the vegetative growth in the first season, flower and set seeds in the
succeeding season and then dies. These are found mainly in non-cropped areas. Completes
their life cycle over one season but not more than two years.

Rottboellia exaltata Alternanthera sessilis

c. Perennials

Perennials live for more than two years and may live almost indefinitely. They adapt to
withstand adverse environmental conditions. They propagate not only through seeds but
also by underground stems, roots, rhizomes, tubers etc. and hence they are further
classified into

Cyperus rotundos Portulaca oleracea

II. Based on ecological affinities/Habitat

a. Wetland weeds/Aquatic

There are plants that are growing in or near water

i. Free floating – weeds which grow on the water surface and not attached to
the soil bottom

Pistia stratiotes Azolla pinnata

 ii. Emerged – weeds with their roots under the water and leaves above the
surface

Scirpus maritimus Scirpus grossus

iii. Submerged – weeds normally under water surface, but may have floral parts
above the water

Hydrilla verticillata Najas indica

b. Terrestrial – weeds that are growing on land

 Obligate weeds – found only in cultivated areas
 Facultative weeds – found on both wild state and cultivated areas
III. Based on morphology

1. Grasses – weeds with narrow, 2-ranked leaves, parallel venation, round stems (culm) and
presence of a ligule

Rottboellia exaltata Eleusine indica

2. Sedges – similar to grasses but have 3-ranked leaves and triangular stem, absence of a
ligule, fusion of the leaf sheath around the stem to form a tube

Cyperus rotundos
3. Broadleaf weeds – weeds with broadleaf and netted venation either monocots or dicots.

Example:

Boerhavia erecta Chromolaena odarata

Other Classifications

1. Common Weeds
- annual, biennials, simple perennials which are more or less common
to every farm
- Easily controlled by good farming practices
2. Noxious Weeds
- Especially undesirable characteristics
- Troublesome
- Difficult to control
- Highly competitive character and persistent
- Caused significant damage even at low densities
Scirpus maritimus – reduced rice yield by 70% when present at a
density of 20 shoots/m2

Self Check:

Select the best answer.

1. Weed Science as a discipline begin when the herbicidal properties of ______ was
discovered in the US in the year 1944.
a. Glyphosate
b. 2-4 D
c. Benthiocarb
d. Butachlor
2. Which among the listed are not beneficial effects of weeds.
a. Prevent soil erosion especially in sloping areas
b. Increased cost for insect and disease control
c. Can be used as food especially the succulent ones
d. Conserve soil moisture
3. Which among the listed is an adverse effects of weeds
a. Reduced quality of products
b. Conserve soil moisture
c. Prevent soil erosion especially in sloping areas
 d. Provide shelter to wildlife
4. A classification of weeds that completes the vegetative growth in the first
season, flower and set seeds in the succeeding season and then dies.
a. Annual
b. Biennial
c. Perrenial
d. Terrestrial
5. A type of aquatic weeds which grow on the water surface and not attached to
the soil bottom
a. Free floating
b. Submerged
c. Emerged
d. Noxious

Self Reflect:

Observe all the weeds in your nearby surroundings or farms and write the direct and
indirect impact of those weeds in your life or the life of your known farmer.

Reference:

www.agriinfo.in/default.aspx?page=topic&superid=1&topicid=2175

Moody, K., et al., 2014. Major Weeds of the Philippines. 2nd Edition. Weed Science Society of
the Philippines, Inc., Crop Protection Cluster, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College
Laguna 4031 Philippines.
 CLARK I. MAARAT
BS Agriculture
Major in Plant Pathology
Minor in Agronomy

Work Experience:

 Production Supervisor - Monsanto Philippines

General Santos City
2007-2008

 Dole Stanfilco - 90 ha. Banana plantation

Malandag, Malungon, Saranggani
2005-2007

 Production Management - Bayer CropScience

Technician (PMT) Davao City
Assigned at Zamboanga Sibugay
2004-2005

Key Designations:

 College CWTS Coordinator

 ISO Internal Auditor
 LSG Adviser
 College Socio-Cultural Coordinator
 BAC-TWG Member
 College Assessor/Encoder