Optimal Weed Control Strategies in Rice Production under Dynamic and Static Decision Rules in South Korea

• Main Authors: Woongchan Jeon, Kwansoo Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-06-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: optimal weed control; weed seed dynamics; Hamiltonian; maximum principle
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/6/956

This paper analyzes optimal weed control management strategies under static and dynamic decision rules. Seed bank is taken into account to introduce dynamics into the model. We present a numerical example of controlling Sheathed Monochoria (Monochoria Vaginalis) in Korean rice paddy fields. Our results show that producers benefit from dynamic decision rules; higher income and more control of weed density can be obtained with the same amount of herbicide. In order to illustrate the magnitude of differences between static and dynamic models, a numerical example is presented using a data set from Korean rice production. When it comes to controlling weed density, Korean rice farmers are found to be better off under the dynamic model, and the magnitude of advantages are found to be more sensitive to herbicide efficacy and less sensitive to initial seed banks and germination rates in terms of weed density.