Hand weeding sweet potato: timing is important to maximise yield and minimise crop interference
Abstract
It has been estimated that weed competition causes food crop losses of 25 percent in the least developed areas of the world where weed control is achieved mainly by hand weeding. For sweet potato, yield reduction due to uncontrolled weed growth varies from 100 percent in some areas to nil in others. In some cases, the effects of weeds can be reduced by using a close crop spacing. However if sweet potato vines are planted too close together, a large number of small and unmarketable tubers will be produced.
