Question

What are the weeds? How can we control them?

Answer 1

Hint: The unwanted plants that develop along with the crops are called weeds. These weeds feed on the nutrients given to the crops and thus decrease the supply of nutrients to the crops, thereby, inhibiting their growth. The development of these weeds needs to be limited to enhance the growth of the plants.

Complete Answer:
Weeds are the undesirable wild plants that can develop in agricultural fields and have a faster growth correlated to other plants. Examples involve grass and moss. It is extremely important to reduce weeds in agricultural management
because of the following reasons:
- They are wild plants that can accumulate in any region and tend to outgrow the field plants. Thus inhibiting with the harvest.
- They compete with field plants for food, water, sunlight, space, and soil nutrients, thus decreasing the farm yield. Some of these weeds are harmful which can impact on the health of grassland. For example, nutgrass releases chemicals through their roots that are fatal to other plants.
- Weeds also influence the fertility of the soil by destroying a huge amount of soil nutrients and dumping harmful chemicals that make the soil unfit for agriculture. It reduces crop integrity by polluting the commodities.
- They can result in crop diseases by providing shelter to insects and the disease-causing bacteria of the crop. They can also be a host or harbour diseases.

Additional Information:
Some of the characteristics of weeds are:
a) They grow quickly
b) They can produce abundant of seeds
c) They show seed inactivity
d) Tolerant to extreme conditions
e) Can easily modify to changes and establish its population quickly Buried seeds of weed can survive for an extended time.

Weeding is the technique of removal of weeds. To obtain this, weedicides are required, which are almost chemicals particularly made to destroy weeds. They are regularly sprayed before seeding and flowering.

Weeding methods:
Few significant weeding methods are listed below
1. Weeds can be regulated using weedicides: It is a chemical, which is sprayed in the fields to kill all available weeds. Weedicides are not toxic to crops.
2. Tilling before the cultivation of crops also helps in removing weeds: Tilling uproots the weeds. The best time for the disposal of weeds is before they develop flowers and seeds.

Note: The physical method of extracting weeds is with the help of a kauri. It comprises regular uprooting or cutting of weeds close to the ground.
1. Physical method: Walking the field and pulling out the weeds.
2. By automatic means: Using trowel through the field that will fill up the space between the crop rows and cut/kill the weeds.