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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Crop Production Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342709
Title: Geographic information system for pigweed distribution in the US Southeast

Author
item Fletcher, Reginald
item Reddy, Krishna

Submitted to: Weed Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2017
Publication Date: 2/1/2018
Citation: Fletcher, R.S., Reddy, K.N. 2018. Geographic information system for pigweed distribution in the US Southeast. Weed Technology. 32:20-26.

Interpretive Summary: In the southeastern United States, pigweeds have become troublesome weeds in agricultural systems. To implement management strategies to control them, agriculturalists need information on areas affected by pigweeds. USDA-ARS Scientists in the Crop Production System Research Unit at Stoneville, MS, used free and open-source geographic information system (GIS) software (QGIS), free government data, on-line plant databases, and published research data to derive a geographic information database at the couunty scale showing distribution of three pigweeds: Palmer amranth, redroot pigweed, and waterhemp. Database queries (i.e., a request for information from a database) were used to demonstrate applications of the GIS for precision agriculture applications at the county level, such as tallying the number of counties affected by the pigweeds, identifying counties reporting glyphosate-resistant pigweed, and identifying cultivated areas located in counties with glyphosate-resistant pigweeds. This research demonstrated that free and open-source geographic information software such as QGIS has strong potential as a decision support tool, with implications for precision weed management at the county scale.

Technical Abstract: In the southeastern United States, pigweeds have become troublesome weeds in agricultural systems. To implement management strategies to control them, agriculturalists need information on areas affected by pigweeds. Geographic information systems (GIS) afford users the ability to evaluate agricultural issues at local, county, state, national, and global levels. Also, they allow users to combine different layers of geographic information to help them develop strategic plans to solve problems. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in testing free and open-source GIS software for weed surveys. In this study, the free and open-source software QGIS was used to develop a geographic information database showing the distribution of pigweeds at the county level in the southeastern United States. The maps focused on the following pigweeds: Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.), redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), and waterhemp [Amaranthus tuberculatus Moq. Sauer]. Cultivated areas and glyphosate-resistant pigweeds data were added to the GIS database. Database queries were used to demonstrate applications of the GIS for precision agriculture applications at the county level, such as tallying the number of counties affected by the pigweeds, identifying counties reporting glyphosate-resistant pigweed, and identifying cultivated areas located in counties with pigweeds and glyphosate resistant pigweeds. This research demonstrated that free and open-source software such as QGIS has strong potential as a decision support tool, with implications for precision weed management at the county scale.