Herbicide resistance: Development of wheat production systems and current status of resistant weeds in wheat cropping systems

Herbicide resistance in crops has extended the scope of herbicide applications to control weeds. The introduction of herbicide resistant crops resulted in a major shift in the way that herbicides are used in many crops, but not necessarily increased the prevalence of herbicide use, especially in wheat. Wheat is one of the most widely grown crops in the world and currently only two major herbicide-resistant wheat groups have been commercialized to manage weeds in a cost-effective manner. However, sustainable wheat production is threatened by the expanding occurrence of herbicide-resistant weed populations with limited efforts to discover new herbicide molecules. Selective control of certain problematic weeds in wheat was impossible until development and introduction of the technologies, Clearfield and Co AXium Production Systems. However, the current limitations of reliance on specific herbicides and evolution of resistant weeds mandate precautions and considerations when using these systems to prevent the loss of existing herbicide resources and continue sustainable wheat production. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of natural pre-existing herbicide resistance and development of herbicide-resistant technologies in wheat. The mechanisms of resistance to herbicides in wheat as well as the weed populations in wheat cropping systems, and implications for weed management are discussed.