you are provided with 10 hectare of land there will be the growth of weeds. How can you control them?
Answers
Answer:
Organic Weed Control: Cultural and Mechanical Methods
By Howell and Klaas Martens
From the August 2002 issue of Acres U.S.A. magazine
Organic weed control methods are often debated and dismissed by large chemical sprayers. But organic weed control methods do work, and work better for your field’s health.
Weeds happen. That is a fact of life for organic farmers, and therefore many of our field operations are designed to make sure that the health and quality of our crops are not jeopardized by the inevitable weed pressure.
Planning an effective weed-control program involves many different aspects of organic crop production. As farmers begin to explore organic possibilities, the first two questions invariably seem to be: “What materials do I buy for soil fertility?” and “What machinery do I buy to control weeds?” We asked these questions when we started organic farming, but we rapidly realized that this is not the best way to understand successful organic farm management.
To plan an effective weed-control program, you must integrate a broad spectrum of important factors, including your soil conditions, weather, crop rotations and field histories, machinery, markets and specific market quality demands, and available time and labor. You must have the ability to adjust your weed-control strategies to the unique and ever-changing challenges of each year. Above all, you must be observant, and, in the words of William Albrecht, you must learn “to see what you are looking at.”
Cultural Organic Weed Control
Do you think that weeds just happen, that there is little you can do to limit your weed population other than cultivate? Then think again! Before you even think about cultivating, there are many things that you can actively do to change field conditions so that they favor crop growth and discourage weed pressure. Cultural weed control is a multi-year, whole-farm, multi-faceted approach — and you are probably doing much of it already without realizing the effect your actions have on weed pressure.

Weed control is important to prevent losses in yield and production costs, and to preserve good grain quality. Specifically, weeds decrease yields by direct competition for sunlight, nutrients, and water increase production costs e.g., higher labor or input costs reduce grain quality and price.
For example, weed seeds in grain can cause the buyer price to be reduced.
Weed management should be practiced during specific stages of rice production:
- During land preparation
- In the nursery
- During early crop growth
Control of weeds during land preparation is crucial to reduce the amount of weed pressure in the field. Land preparation should start 3−4 weeks before planting. Plowing destroys weeds and remaining stubble from the previous crop. Weeds should be allowed to grow before the next cultivation. In addition, a level field helps retain a constant water level that controls weeds.
1. Stale seedbed technique
Stale seedbed technique is a weed control method for land preparation. This technique is effective especially when growing irrigated, dry direct seeded rice.
2. Herbicides
Using herbicides for weed control is particularly important in places where agricultural labor is scarce and wage rates are high.
3. Manual and mechanical weeding
Direct control of weeds can be done through manual weeding by hand, and mechanical weeding using implements such as push weeder and interrow cultivation weeders.