Even useful weeds are pests: Ethnobotany in the Bolivian Andes

Abstract

Abstract Abstract Weed scientists, agronomists and an anthropologist in Bolivia surveyed farmers' practices and studied the ethnobotany of weeds. The hypothesis tested was that farmers managed weeds so as to take advantage of their uses. Farmers weeded row crops twice per cycle. Crop rotations usually began with potatoes and ended with an Old World cereal, broadcast in stands too dense to weed. Many weeds were fed to cattle, and fodder is the only use that requires more than an armload of weeds. Other uses of weeds (e.g., for home remedies) require just a few plants. Although most weeds have uses, they must still be controlled. The most important consideration regarding weeds is not their uses, but the fact that they are pests. Keywords: Weed controlethnobotanyBoliviaQuechuaAndes Acknowledgements This publication is an output from Prommasel, a research project funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The authors thank the farmers in Cochabamba who collaborated in the study, and Gregorio Gonzales, Juan Villarroel and Sue Cowgill, who participated in the weed survey in 2000. Margaret Smith, Fredy Almendras and Sergio Ballón helped organise the quantitative data. Many thanks to Brian Sims and the reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.