Question

Discuss various methods for weed control.

Answer 1

An unwanted plant species growing spontaneously at a habitat (or in the cultivated field) is called a weed. Weeds damage our crop plants, by competing with them for space, water, light and nutrients. Some of the important weeds of our crop fields are Parthenium (gajar ghas), Xanthium (gokhroo), Cyprus rotundus (motha) etc. The overall loss caused by weeds in India had been estimated at 27% of field crop production. Therefore, eradication of weeds from crop fields during the early stage of crop growth is our prime concern. Some of the most commonly used methods of weed control are :

1. Hand pulling: Individual weed plants are pulled by hand.
2. Tillage: Tillage is mechanical agitation of soil by over turning etc. destruction of weeds and reduction of their seeds in the soil is called tillage.
3. Mowing: Mowing of fields also prevents seed production of weeds and removes weed growth.
4. Flooding: Flooding of fields after harvesting is a popular method for controlling perennial weeds.
5. Cropping and competition method: Weeds are also controlled by proper seedbed preparation, timely sowing of crops, intercropping, crop rotation, summer ploughing, adopting the most effective methods of irrigation and application of fertilisers. Thus, crop plants better compete with the weeds and restrict their growth.
6. Use of chemical herbicides: An enormous variety of chemical compounds have been synthesised, tested for herbicidal activity and the successful ones have been applied to the fields.