By Sarah Kezar, 2020-2023 FFAR Fellow
Farmers have been fighting weeds for millennia. While the number and efficacy of tools to combat weed pressures have vastly improved, weed resistance is a continuing problem for crop productivity and profitability. Even when weeds appear to be destroyed, their seeds linger, hidden in the soil seedbank. A seedbank is the living memory of resistant weed species and the source for future weed infestations. They are the most impactful robber of yields worldwide and particularly destructive for cotton, which is the focus of my research.