Herbicide - History

History

Prior to the widespread use of chemical herbicides, cultural controls, such as altering soil pH, salinity, or fertility levels, were used to control weeds. Mechanical control (including tillage) was also (and still is) used to control weeds.

The first widely used herbicide was 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, often abbreviated 2,4-D. It was first commercialized by the paint company Sherwin-Williams and saw use in the late 1940s. It is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and kills many broadleaf plants while leaving grasses largely unaffected, although high doses of 2,4-D at crucial growth periods can harm grass crops such as maize or other cereals. The low cost of 2,4-D has led to continued usage today, and it remains one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world. Like other acid herbicides, current formulations use either an amine salt (often trimethylamine) or one of many esters of the parent compound. These are easier to handle than the acid.

2,4-D exhibits relatively good selectivity, meaning, in this case, it controls a wide number of broadleaf weeds while causing little to no injury to grass crops at normal use rates. A herbicide is termed selective if it affects only certain types of plants, and nonselective if it inhibits a very broad range of plant types. Other, more recently developed herbicides achieve higher levels of selectivity than 2,4-D.

The triazine family of herbicides, which includes atrazine, were introduced in the 1950s; they have the current distinction of being the herbicide family of greatest concern regarding groundwater contamination. Atrazine does not break down readily (within a few weeks) after being applied to soils of above neutral pH. Under alkaline soil conditions, atrazine may be carried into the soil profile as far as the water table by soil water following rainfall causing the aforementioned contamination. Atrazine is thus said to have "carryover", a generally undesirable property for herbicides.

Glyphosate, frequently sold under the brand name Roundup, was introduced in 1974 for nonselective weed control. It is now a major herbicide in selective weed control in growing crop plants due to the development of resistant crop plants. The pairing of the herbicide with the resistant seed contributed to the consolidation of the seed and chemistry industry in the late 1990s.

Many modern chemical herbicides for agriculture are specifically formulated to decompose within a short period after application. This is desirable, as it allows crops which may be affected by the herbicide to be grown on the land in future seasons. However, herbicides with low residual activity (i.e., that decompose quickly) often do not provide season-long weed control.