From Argentina to Greece to research Agrobiodiversity & Weed Ecology

Prof. Cristian Malavert from the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, carried out a two-month research stay at the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece, in January and February.

His work focused on:

• Understand Weed Biology: studying dormancy, germination, and growth patterns of both neutral and aggressive weed species in response to environmental conditions.

• Evaluate Cover Crop–Weed Interactions: assessing how different cover crop mixtures influence weed emergence from the soil seedbank under field, greenhouse, and growth chamber conditions.

• Assess Interspecific Competition in wheat: conducting a field experiment with varying weed densities to evaluate how weed community composition affects the emergence of aggressive species like horseweed and amaranth during wheat establishment.

Cristian’s visit represents an important step in fostering NeutraWeed international collaboration and advancing sustainable weed control solutions across diverse agroecosystems.