Weeds

Next Gen weed management

Weed pressure remains a persistent challenge for vegetable and fruit growers across all production regions in the Northern Territory.

Weed management has become increasingly costly and difficult due to:

• supply constraints
• rising cost of labour and inputs
• limited options of approved chemicals
• tightening food safety regulations.

High-value crops are currently grown on plastic mulch to suppress weeds, conserve soil moisture, and support crop establishment. However, it is not a complete solution, weeds such as nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus) can easily puncture the mulch causing crop yield losses, contamination and interference with crop management and harvesting.

This project aims to evaluate Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) as a non-chemical weed management technique for crops grown on plastic mulch.

ASD has been used in other countries including America and Japan but has not been trialled in Australia. Alongside weed suppression, ASD also offers numerous potential benefits for soil health. The project is assessing the suitability and effectiveness of ASD under Australian climatic conditions.

The Northern Territory component of this project will focus on melons, vegetables, and agave as target crops.

Objectives

• Identify priority industry weeds for plasticulture crops (melon and vegetable) in the NT
• Benchmark current grower practices for weed control in the NT
• Evaluate the effectiveness of ASD in controlling priority weeds under NT climatic conditions
• Engage with industry through on-farm weed surveys, grower trials and research field days.

Funding body and partners

Next-generation weed management (BY23002) is funded through Hort Innovation Frontiers with co-investment from La Trobe University, the NT Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and contributions from the Australian Government. Project partners include Clemson University, as well as growers from New South Wales and the NT.

Survey

Researchers would like to hear from NT growers about their experience with plastic mulch and common weeds.

The survey will only take a few minutes and will help us to understand your priorities for weed control.

For details on participant information and consent, read the information below, provided in English and Vietnamese:

• English survey participant information and consent {Link to corresponding document}
• Vietnamese survey participant information and consent {Link to corresponding document}

Participate in the weed survey:

• English weed survey
• Vietnamese weed survey

Surveys will close in September 2026.

Further information

For information on the project, read the project flyer.

Agriculture Northern Territory Facebook
Dept of Industry, Tourism and Trade - Agriculture YouTube

Contact us

For NT DAF email plant.industries@nt.gov.au
For La Trobe University email a.bajwa@latrobe.edu.au