Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Reduced tillage has increased in Sweden during several years, primarily to decrease costs and
increase efficiency in crop production. Despite this, mouldboard ploughing is still the most
common primary tillage method on most farms. The aim with this thesis was to compare the
use of pesticides and the occurrence of weeds on ten farms in Skåne and ten farms in
Mälardalen that use different soil tillage systems. The object of the study was also to clarify
why the farms had chosen their specific soil tillage system and the consequences it has had on
weed occurrence and use of pesticides. The result showed a slightly higher use of pesticides
on the farms that use reduced tillage. According to the farmers interviewed in Skåne,
occurrence of weed was considered higher in reduced tillage, while the result in Mälardalen
was the opposite. More weed species were considered hard to control in Skåne as well as in
Mälardalen on the farms that used reduced tillage.