>, a research and funding organization established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The planned whole-genome approach to advance knowledge of specific weed species is a long time coming, according to project director Todd Gaines, associate professor of molecular weed science in CSU's Department of Agricultural Biology.
Large-scale weed control is usually accomplished by spraying herbicides, but weeds can adapt and evolve resistance to such treatments. Herbicides becoming less effective costs farmers billions of dollars, forcing increased use of unsustainable practices like soil tillage or even larger quantities of herbicides. In addition, there is a clear need to make herbicides more environmentally friendly and develop plants with fortified genetics that suffer less from emerging weed species.