ABSTRACT
Weed management integrates preventative and control techniques to minimise crop yield loss due to weed interference. Preventative techniques include quarantine to avoid new weeds, and providing conditions unsuitable for weed establishment. Control techniques include chemical, physical and biological methods of weed destruction, and manipulation of crop competitiveness. Weed interference slows crop growth by competition for resources of sunlight, soil water and soil nutrients, and by production of growth-inhibiting chemicals. Weed interference reduces tea tree yield during both the initial establishment phase and in the annual regrowth cycles. This chapter describes the nature of the weed problem in tea tree plantations and the effect of weeds on tea tree yield. An understanding of the mechanisms of weed interference in tea tree plantations then provides the basis for discussing effective and sustainable weed management techniques. The chapter is based on research conducted on the north coast of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, where tea tree was first established in plantations.
