Integrated crop production —an environmentally conscious approach to farming— has already proven its value in practice but has received less attention in recent years. Now, innovative solutions are bringing it back to the forefront. Modern sensor-supported technologies and digital tools enable the continued use of crop protection measures as part of an integrated crop production, even as some active ingredients are phased out. At Agritechnica 2025, the world’s largest trade fair for agricultural machinery, visitors can explore these advancements firsthand. Taking place from November 9 to 15 in Hanover, Germany, the event will showcase advanced, networked agricultural systems in line with the theme “Touch Smart Efficiency.” Organized by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), the international trade fair will provide farming professionals with direct access to technologies that drive efficiency, sustainability, and productivity in modern agriculture.
For nearly 40 years, integrated crop production has stood for a holistic and sustainable approach to arable farming. This method relies on a diverse set of cultivation practices designed to promote crop health and ensure strong, efficient yields. A key component of this approach is integrated crop protection, where chemical measures are considered only as a last resort—used only when preventative measures fail to deliver the desired results.
Weeds and pests should be managed effectively: based on the damage threshold principle, prioritizing non-chemical methods whenever possible. In the past, integrated crop production with its crop protection approach did not adequately meet today’s required standards. This is because modern crop protection products and fertilizer technology, as well as advances in plant breeding, have been able to cover up any plant cultivation problems that may arise as a result of tighter crop rotations, early sowing dates or higher nitrogen fertilization.
In recent years, the decline in available active ingredients and the increased emergence of resistance, particularly in weed and grass control, have exacerbated the situation. Extreme weather conditions and drought, caused by climate change, as well as the emergence of new pests are further factors to contend with. This has led to a return to integrated crop production in many places.
Utilizing the potential of breeding and crop rotation
Plant breeding plays a crucial role in overcoming these challenges by helping crops adapt to emerging resistances and climate-related stress factors. Crop cultivation measures are also crucial: in integrated crop production, this includes expanding crop rotation, as a wide crop rotation can reduce both the disease pressure caused by pests and the resistance problem. The elimination of crop protection products with different mechanisms of action is also increasingly taking effective tools out of the hands of practitioners.
Weed control in the sowing phase
Effective weed control starts even before sowing, which should be carefully timed to avoid being too early. Agronomic strategies such as mock sowing help eliminate early-germinating weeds, while post-harvest harrowing encourages weed seeds to sprout, making them easier to manage. Intercropping immediately after threshing is another effective approach.
Choosing highly competitive crops—those with dense foliage and good leaf retention—can minimize light reaching the soil, reducing weed germination. Optimized row spacing, higher seed rates, and undersowing also play a key role in suppressing weed growth. Alternatively, wider row spacing can be used to facilitate mechanical weed control between rows.
Mechanical weed control
Interest in mechanical weed control is increasing in conventional agriculture as many active chemical ingredients are no longer available to use as a result of legal regulations. This poses major challenges for arable farming.
Thanks to modern sensor and control technology, the combination of mechanical and chemical crop protection has potential in integrated crop production, as do purely mechanical methods in which the hoeing tools are precisely controlled by cameras – both between and within the rows. In the former case, this enables high working speeds and, in both cases, significant savings in crop protection input. There are also already interesting approaches for optimized control of hoeing units using artificial intelligence (AI).
Mechanical weed control offers many possibilities, but is also associated with challenges. These include weather problems (wet years), the risk of soil compaction and soil erosion and a lack of expertise. In addition, mechanical methods often do not have the desired effect on problem weeds.
Chemical crop protection and mineral fertilization with precision
Despite the elimination of active substances and increasing resistance, chemical crop protection will continue to play an important role in integrated crop production in the future. Innovative techniques that are characterized by high precision and help to save on pesticides will contribute to this.
Mineral fertilization is also becoming increasingly precise. An important goal here is to minimize nutrient inputs into bodies of water, particularly in the case of nitrogen fertilization. Other goals are to save on mineral fertilizers through greater precision and increased efficiency. The agricultural machinery manufacturers’ answers to these requirements are sensor-supported rate control, further developments in border spreading equipment, automatic part-width section control and variable rate adjustment or systems for adjusting the spreading pattern when cornering. Pneumatic fertilizer spreaders ensure high precision fertilizer application at the field boundary.
Outlook
Conventional agriculture is set to increasingly focus on integrated crop production and crop protection in the future. Visitors to Agritechnica 2025, taking place this November in Hanover, will have the opportunity to explore the current technical possibilities and learn how to optimize their application at the booths of numerous exhibitors and through expert forum contributions.
For more information visit: www.dlg.org
