The Weed Science Society of the Republic of China (WSSROC) and NPUST jointly held the “2021 WSSROC-Weed Science Lecture and Research Result Conference” on December 24th at the NPUST Library and International Conference Hall. Weed researchers and experts from across Taiwan and a large number of faculty members from NPUST were invited to participate in the conference and share their results.
NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai remarked that “dealing with weeds in the field originally meant plucking them out by the roots. With advancements, it is now about ‘management and applied strategies’. Sharing and discussions can now look towards finding ecological balance; and with professional guidance from the Weed Science Society of the Republic of China, we can create a win-win situation for ‘agricultural development’ and ‘ecology’”.
Chairman of the Weed Science Society, Chin-Jin Hou delivered a speech in which he stated that “since the founding of the Society, 41 years have gone by. For 41 years, we have been conducting weed science research, developing diversified weeds applications, investigating herbicides for weeds and researching stadium lawn management, grass cultivation in orchards and management of weedy red rice. Considerable strides forward have been made in all these areas. Natural materials must be useful and research on medicinal plants, development of vanilla plants, creation of green spaces in parks and golf courses, and the use of wild flowers in farmland fallow are the results diversified applications of those unremarkable weeds.”
The event was co-hosted by Weed Society Chairman Chin-Jin Hou and NPUST Department of Plant Industry Director Horng-Liang Lay. Nine research papers and 30 paper posters were published at the event with fruitful results. Researcher Chiou-Ing Yuan from Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute (COA) and Agronomy Professor Ching-Yuh Wang of National Chung Hsing University were invited to share on their papers: “The Characteristics of Plant Biostimulants and the Current Status of Legislation and Management in Europe and the United States” and “Looking Back in Time: My Weeds and Herbicides”. In the awards section, Professor Emeritus Ching-Hsiang Hsieh of the NPUST Department of Plant Industry awarded the “Academic Award” to Dr. Wen-dar Huang, Associate Professor of Agronomy at National Taiwan University. Weed Society Chairman Chin-Jin Hou, presented the “Career Award” to Sumitomo Corporation Manager of Development & Promotion, Hsien-Yi Chang.
The Weed Science Society of the Republic of China is country-wide academic organization. It was established in the early years mainly because agricultural mechanization automation made it necessary to solve the problem of field weeds through the application of chemical agents (herbicides). At this stage, weeds are mainly regarded as plant resources and are developed and utilized. The society also researches ways to use weed science to enhance crop competitiveness, reduce the use of herbicides, promote the coexistence of organic ecology of field plants, and develop new (ecologically beneficial) herbicides.
