Question

Discuss various methods for weed control.

Answer 1

Hint: Weeds are undesirable plants that inadvertently grow surrounding the actual desired plants. Weeds pose menace to not only the healthy plants but also to the overall environment. Weed management is a genuine challenge in almost any kind of artificial ecosystem.

Complete answer:
Weeds disrupt the space, soil, nutrients and growth of plants. Efforts are everyday put in to devise new and more effective ways to manage the distressing weed growth. There are diverse methods of weed control including-
Mechanical methods: In mechanical weed control, rotary hoeing, inter-row cultivation, harrowing, ploughing, flaming farms and seed targeting methods are used to physically remove the already grown weed
Biological methods: as the name suggests, the employment of any sort of living agents for the purpose of weed control constitute biological methods. Grazing animals and insects are among the most used living agents for eradication of weed and suppression of unnecessary seed germination.
Chemical methods: chemical methods involve use of least harmful chemicals like organic compounds and herbicides for weed killing. Herbicides are majorly used by organic farmers for time and cost efficient weed suppression.
Chemical methods can be used as both, preventive measures as well as post weed growth management. There are various types of herbicides used in agriculture like, contact herbicides, soil borne herbicides, pre-emergent herbicides and systemic herbicides.
Cultural methods: cultural practices like increasing the seeding rates of crops are highly effective in weed management. Crop rotation and buried drip irrigation are other types of cultural methods massively used in traditional farming.

Note: Apart From this, microorganisms are widely and vividly being used with the latest technologies to provide effective weed control as well as With the intention of not using hazardous organic pesticides, herbicides are designed in such a way that they pose no harm to the wanted plants or to the soil fertility.