which eco friendly methods can be used for weed and pest control
Answers
Weeds are unwanted plants playing a very important role in different eco-systems and many of them cause enormous direct and indirect losses. The losses include interference with cultivation of crops, loss of bio-diversity, loss of potentially productive lands, loss of grazing areas and livestock production, erosion following fires in heavily invaded areas, choking of navigational and irrigation canals and reduction of available water in water bodies. Weed management takes away nearly one third of total cost of production of field crops. In India, the manual method of weed control is quite popular and effective. Of late, labour has become non-availability and costly, due to intensification, diversification of agriculture and urbanization. The usage of herbicides in India and elsewhere in the world is increasing due to possible benefits to farmers and continuous use of the same group of herbicides over a period of time on a same piece of land leads to ecological imbalance in terms of weed shift and environmental pollution. The complexity of these situations has resulted in a need to develop a wholistic sustainable eco-friendly weed management programme throughout the farming period
Answer:
Non-selective organic herbicides can contain such plant-derived concentrates as clove oil and citric acid or acetic acid (vinegar). They are nearly as effective as their chemical counterparts, but they are organically derived and far less hazardous to people, pets, and the environment. Remember that such non-selective alternatives will kill all plants, even the grass plants in your lawn. But they can be an effective alternative to using glyphosate-based herbicides, such as RoundUp.
There are thus far no alternatives to selective weedkillers, such as the broadleaf weedkiller 2, 4D, which is also found in most weed-and-feed type products. But organic science is progressing rapidly, and we may soon see an effective organic weedkiller that selectively targets broadleaf weeds while leaving grass plants untouched.
Corn gluten meal can be used as a pre-emergent herbicide for springtime crabgrass prevention, but it is required in such large amounts that it is not cost-effective or particularly good for the soil.
Sometimes the old ways are the best. Some weed-killing recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, making possible to eradicate weeds without ever applying store-bought chemicals.
The most common homebrew using some combination of vinegar (1 gallon), salt (1 cup), and/or soap (1 tablespoon). There are numerous variations on the recipe but the resulting concoction is usually a pretty good non-selective weed killer. The acetic acid of the vinegar goes to work disrupting the cells of the plant while the salt desiccates the tissue and the soap aids in allowing the mixture to stick to the plant. Its effectiveness can be improved with stronger vinegar concentrations—most store-bought vinegar is 5 percent acetic acid, but concentrations of up to 20 percent can be found. Plants with hairs or waxy coatings may not be completely eradicated by the vinegar concoction.