Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's purse)

Cultural Control 

The addition of Brassica hirta to air-dried soil (20g/400 g soil) reduced the emergence of C. bursa-pastoris by 97% (Al Khatib et al., 1997).

C. bursa-pastoris in apple orchards was suppressed by the dominance of water foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis var. amurensis) in the Korea Republic (Jung et al., 1998).
The effects of grazing intensity on weed populations in annual and perennial pasture systems has been studied by Harker et al., (2000) in the USA. In perennial pastures, each unit increase in grazing intensity led to 51 more C. bursa-pastoris per m². At lower levels of grazing intensity, C. bursa-pastoris and other species were most abundant in the annual pastures. The response of the weed population to grazing pressure in annual pasture systems is restricted because of annual tillage and MCPA. Therefore, pasture managers may subject annual pastures to heavy grazing pressure with less negative weed population consequences than perennial pastures where herbicides are not applied.

Tillage for seedbed preparation in the annual system supports a proliferation of annual weeds in the spring.

Manual and Mechanical Control

C. bursa-pastoris can be readily controlled by conventional manual and mechanical weeding. The influence of four tillage systems, varying from intensive to zero tillage, on weed populations and the vertical distribution of weed seeds in the soil was determined by O´Donovan and Mc Andrew in Canada (2000). The winter annuals such as shepherd's-purse (C. bursa-pastoris) increased in the soil seedbank as tillage was reduced, however, higher populations in the soil seedbank did not always result in higher spring seedling populations under zero tillage.

C. bursa-pastoris generally does not give any serious problems on arable land under short rotations. Although readily controlled by cultivation, C. bursa-pastoris produces large quantities of seed and therefore dense infestations can form a serious weed problem in some cases (Ivens, 1971).Studies carried out in a wheat field in China by Yu-JinFeng et al., (2002) determined that the eco-economic threshold period (ETP) was of 180-200 plants/m2 of broad-leaved weeds such as C. bursa-pastoris, Descurainia sophia and Silene conoidea.Suspected nitrite poisoning in pigs caused by Capsella bursa-pastoris has been suggested by Wiese and Joubert (2001).C. bursa-pastoris may be important as an alternative host of many plant pathogens causing crop damage. See Natural Enemies for further details.