Investment

Marshmallow is a widely distributed, difficult to manage weed that has thrived in grain cropping regions due to the adoption of no-till, the reduction of livestock in the farming system, and the biological characteristics of the plant. Growers in southern Western Australia have indicated that late summer and early autumn germinations of marshmallow cause the most issues for management. Poor management of these early germinations during the fallow period results in very large plants present in crops at sowing, which mostly are beyond controllable and through the growing season that are extremely difficult to kill due to their size. These plants impact crop yield through competition and potentially causing grain contamination at harvest, can be host plants for some insects, and marshmallow's large canopy has the potential to intercept pre-emergent herbicides from reaching the soil surface and impacts the control of subsequent germinations

There is a gap in the understanding by growers on the biology and ecology of marshmallow and how this information determines the success of management decisions, on the best-practice techniques to manage late summer/early autumn germinations of marshmallow, and how to identify and manage escapees prior to sowing.