Name: Pavle Pavlovic
Home country: Serbia
Current position: Visiting scholar at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory
Since childhood, Pavle Pavlovic has had a keen interest in the living world around him, especially plants. Born and raised in northern Serbia, Pavlovic viewed a career in agriculture as a way of combining something he loved with something that has tangible, practical benefits.
“Agriculture has always played a big part in my life and on the economy in Serbia,” Pavlovic said. “The problems modern agriculture faces, especially in weed resistance, started becoming an apparent problem in Serbia as well.”
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Serbia in 2016, a professor he worked with put Pavlovic in touch with Stevan Knezevic, a weed management specialist at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory. It was recommended that he join Knezevic in Nebraska for the 2017 growing season.
“The time I have spent with Dr. Knezevic and his weed science team has been very productive and fulfilling. I gained greater insight into weed-crop biology and ecology, how to set up and conduct a scientific experiment, and the collection and analyzation of data,” Pavlovic said
By becoming acquainted with agriculture in the Midwest and numerous techniques of crop production, Pavlovic feels he has grown both professionally and personally, and is prepared to make a contribution to agricultural development in Serbia.
Pavlovic is currently in the middle of his second, six-month visit to Haskell. The project he is working on is focused on the concept of Critical Time of Weed Removal (CTWR) in soybean crop. CTWR is not a new concept, but has gained a renewed interest in recent years due to the increasing presence of herbicide- resistant weeds. The idea behind the concept is to encourage timely and diverse use of weed control programs in managing herbicide-resistant weeds. Findings from this research are helping farmers understand how widespread weed resistance is and what preventative measures can be taken.
While the research is crucial, Pavlovic says there is another driving force during his time in Nebraska.
“The professional and friendly support provided by all staff at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory has been a motivation for me.”