SACRAMENTO — A state board on Thursday banned unnecessary hand-weeding on farms to protect workers from back injuries, acting on an emergency basis to fix a problem they had discussed for a decade.

The sight of farm workers weeding in the field, bent over rows of strawberries, carrots and lettuce, soon could become a thing of the past if farm labor groups have their way. The California ...

Laotian rice growers fighting a losing war against weeds Women and girls do most of the backbreaking weeding by hand Two Australians have developed a mechanical solution The backbreaking work is done ...

Discussing superweeds, you say that hand weeding crops is effective, though costly (22 June, p 12). But it can be effective only for crops grown in narrow rows with wide spaces between rows that ...