Conventional Farming System

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

farming

**1. Introduction**

*Ana Flávia Souza Laube*

Current Approaches to Pesticide

Use and Glyphosate-Resistant

Weeds in Brazilian Agriculture

*Kassio Ferreira Mendes, Rodrigo Nogueira de Sousa and* 

The aim of this chapter is to show a general vision about the pesticides use in Brazil. Pesticides are chemical products that contribute to agricultural production processes, mainly large scale, as agents of chemical, physical and biological processes. The glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in Brazil to vast area cultivated with genetically modified glyphosate-resistant crops. Also, this herbicide is the most widely used in the world to control weeds in various crops, making chemical control cheap, easy and efficient. However, with the advance in the cultivation of glyphosate-resistant crops and the intensive use of this herbicide associated with the non-use of other herbicides, glyphosate-resistant weed biotypes are emerging very quickly. In this way, its use must be performed consciously in order not to occur significant increase in the amount of weeds resistant to this herbicide. Despite its great use in the country, it presents few records of resistant weeds when compared to other herbicide action mechanisms. Thus, good agricultural practices are indispensable and more innovations in technologies are necessary for the future. Therefore, adopting a long-term weed management perspective and integration systems for all agricultural practices is of paramount importance to farmers.

**Keywords:** herbicide resistance, mode of action, chemical product, conventional

The domestication of plants over a long time came with several challenges to maintain their sustainability. It is known that cultivated crops would suffer attacks from pests and diseases, causing great yield losses with the ever-present possibility of hunger for the population, mainly due to the lack of resources and knowledge. Even today with advances in technologies to control invaders, food losses due to pests and diseases range from 10 to 90%, with an average of 35–40%, for all potential crops of food and fiber [1]. Pesticides are chemical products that contribute to agricultural production processes, mainly large scale, as agents of chemical, physical, and biological processes [2]. In the south of Brazil, the monoculture of soybeans, wheat, and rice was associated with the mandatory use of pesticides for those who intended to use government rural credit. Today, pesticides are disseminated in conventional agriculture, as a short-term solution for pest and disease infestation [3].
