How To Protect Organic Crops From Unwanted Weeds - Weed Management MethodsPosted by Mohit Batheja on February 4th, 2021 Farming is a very time consuming and tough job for anyone. There are many things which disturb whole farming and weeds plants are one of them. Weeds are unwanted plants which ruin the whole farming area. They affect the production of the farming that impacts income. They grow with the crops or plants. Introduction Simply defined, weeds are unwanted plants that grow along with a cultivated crop. Types of Weed The types of weed vary from field to field, crop to crop and season to season. Generally, the types of weed can be broadly classified into the following three categories:
Annual weeds germinate and spread by seed. They have an average lifespan of one year. These include both summer and winter types. Winter annuals, like chickweed, germinate in late summer/early fall, go dormant in winter and actively grow during the spring season. Summer accruals, such as Lambsquarters, germinate in spring, grow throughout summer and are gone with the arrival of cold weather.
Biennial weeds have a life span of two years. These types of weeds germinate and form rosettes in their first year and produce flowers and seeds in the second year. Bull thistle and garlic mustard are the best examples of these types of weeds.
Perennial weeds return every year and normally produce long tap roots in addition to seeds. These types of weeds include plantain, purple loosestrife and dandelions and are the most difficult to control. Why is Weed Growth Control/Weed Removal important? Weeds are harmful in many ways. It becomes important to remove weeds as they (i) compete for nutrients and water with the main crops, thus preventing plant growth and resulting in heavy losses in crop yields, (ii) increase the cost of cultivation as more time, effort and money is employed in the process of weeding, (iii) get mixed with the main crop, which in turn reduces the quality of the crop produce, (iv) reduce the quality of livestock products as they are undesirable in nature, (v) harbor insects, pests and diseases, (vi) block drainages and reduce the flow of water to the irrigation fields, (vii) lower the germination and hamper the growth of many crops due to the presence of certain phytotoxins in them, (viii) cause skin irritation, allergy and poisoning in human beings, (ix) cause quick wear and tear of farm implements, thereby reducing their efficiency and (x) reduce the value of land as agricultural land infested with perennial weeds always fetches less price. Weed Management Methods to Protect Organic Agriculture Crops Weed management can be defined as the process of limiting weed infestation, so that crops can be grown profitably and other farming operations can be conducted efficiently. Weed management works on the principle of prevention, eradication and control. Weed management methods are a part of the principle of ‘control’. Weed management methods can be broadly classified as under:
The physical and mechanical methods of weed management can further be broken down into the following: (i) Tillage - Tillage removes weeds from the soil, thereby resulting in their death. (ii) Hoeing - This involves the use of a hoe, which is a very useful implement in obtaining results effectively and cheaply. (iii) Hand Weeding - It involves the physical removal or pulling out of weeds by hand or by implements such as a khurpi. (iv) Sickling and Mowing - Sickling is also done by hand with the help of a sickle. Mowing is the practice of using machines to remove weeds. (v) Burning - Under this method, weeds are killed/removed through destruction by fire. (vi) Flooding - Flooding kills weeds by reducing oxygen availability for their growth. The success of flooding depends upon the complete submergence of weeds for longer periods. (vii) Grazing - Under this method, the grazing of animals prevents seed formation and aid in the removal of weeds. (viii) Thermal - This involves the use of flame weeders, hot air weeders, hot foam, soil steam sterilization and soil solarization. (ix) Seed Targeting - This involves the concentration of seeds into windrows and burning the windrows after the harvest, thereby destroying the seeds.
Several cultural practices are employed in order to create favorable conditions for crops. The cultural methods of weed management include: (i) Stale seed bed - This is a manual technique, which involves cultivating the soil and then leaving the field, which prevents the build-up of weed seeds and keeps the fields free of weeds. (ii) Crop rotation - The possibility of the growth of certain species of weed or a variety of species is greater if the same crop is cultivated year after year. (iii) Maintenance of optimum plant population - Lack of adequate plant population results in heavy weed infestation, which becomes difficult to control later. (iv) Mulching - Mulch is a protective covering of material maintained on the surface of the soil. Mulching has a smothering effect by excluding light from the photosynthetic portions of a plant, thereby inhibiting its growth.
Under this method, chemicals or herbicides are used for the control of weeds.
Biological methods of weed management involve the use of living organisms like insects, disease organisms, herbivorous fish, snails or even competitive plants for the control of weeds. Role and Importance of New Holland Tractor in Weed Management The role of weed management methods cannot be understated. New Holland understands that every plant counts towards the profitability of farmers and as such, their products are designed specifically to help farmers maximize their yield potential. New Holland Tractor has a huge legacy in designing and manufacturing T6, T7, T8 and T9 series of tractors to answer any tillage related challenges, right from classical mouldboard ploughing to secondary tillage and seedbed finishing. New Holland has recently added ‘XPower’, a zero-chemical weed control system to their tractors that makes use of the ‘Electro-Herbicide’ technology. The technology is more efficient, economical and practical as compared to the mechanical weeding methods while ensuring crop and soil safety. In addition, New Holland’s Dynamic Feed Roll (DFR) reverser on the CR combine harvester range is an innovative feature that enables the operator to clear blockages effectively, while dramatically reducing the cost and the time taken to complete the operation. Both the technologies listed above were declared bronze medal winners of the SIMA 2019 innovation awards. We hope this blog helped you to gain useful and pertinent knowledge regarding the topic. For more updates on the agriculture sector and New Holland Tractor, stay tuned with Tractorjunction. Like it? Share it! More by this author |