weeds in farming

FARMING

 The activity or business of growing crops and raising

livestock.
 It is for providing food and raw materials.

 Agriculture : The art and science of cultivating the soil,

growing crops and raising livestock.
FOOD
 Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or
drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and
growth.
 Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional
support for an organism.
 Food is usually of plant, animal or fungal in origin and
contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, vitamins or minerals.
DEFINITION OF WEEDS
 A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in
competition with cultivated plants

 “A plant in the wrong place". Examples commonly are

plants unwanted in human-controlled settings, such as
farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks.
WEEDS
LOSSES DERIVED FROM WEEDS
Direct Losses by weeds
 Weeds cause reduction in crop yield through competition for light, nutrient, water and
space.
 They can also reduce the yield of crop through the release of toxic substances. This is
called allelopathy.
 Weeds can reduce the quality of harvested agricultural products.
 Weeds interfere with harvest operations and increase the cost of harvesting in both small
holder and large scale farms.
 Weeds may poison animals .
 The presence of weeds can impede water flow in irrigation canals.
 The presence of weeds in lakes and reservoir can increase loss of water by transpiration.
Indirect Losses caused by weeds
 Weeds serve as alternate hosts to many plant diseases and animal pests e.g insects,
rodents, birds etc that attack crops.
Non Agricultural Losses
 Weeds affect health of humans, stinging nettle can cause skin rashes and the flowers of
some other weeds can be associated with allergies in humans 
BENEFITS OF WEEDS
 Helping to conserve soil moisture and prevent erosion.
 Food and shelter can be provided for natural enemies of
pests and even alternative food sources for crop pests.
 Weeds can also be valuable indicators of growing
conditions in a field, for example of water levels,
compaction and pH.
 Weeds can be an important source of food for wildlife,
especially birds. Inturn birds control pests, helps in
increasing yield.
 Weeds are sources of pesticides e.g Chrysanthemum
cinerariifolium which provides insecticide pyrethrum.
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM WEEDS
 Weeds Add Organic Matter and Nutrients to the Soil:
 Gokhru (Xanthium strumarium) – 3 to 3.5 % N
 (means 100 kg of this plant would add N worth Rs 76)
 Bavachi ( Psoralea corylifolia)  – 3 to 3.5 % N
 Leguminous weeds – 1.5 to 6 % N.
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM WEEDS
 Some of the Weeds are used as Fodder for Animal:
 The results revealed that the fodder requirement in India is 883.95 Mt of green fodder 
 583.66 Mt of dry fodder 
 whereas the estimated fodder production is 664.73 Mt of green fodder.
 355.93 Mt of dry fodder.

 Some of the Weeds are used as Leafy Vegetables:

 Tandulaja (Amaranthus Polygamus)
 Math (Amaranthus viridis)
 Kunjru ( Digera arvensis)
 Ghol ( Portulaca spp)
 Pathari ( Lactuca runcinata)
 Sonchus asper
 Portulaca quadrifida

As per National Horticulture Database published by National Horticulture Board, during 2015-16, India produced 90.2 million

metric tonnes of fruits and 169.1 million metric tonnes of vegetables. The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 6.3 million
hectares while vegetables were cultivated at 10.1 million hectares
The WHO panel on diet, nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases recommended a daily intake of at least 400 grams (or five
daily servings with an average serving size of 80 gm) of fruits and vegetables, excluding potatoes, cassava and other starchy
tubers, to prevent diet- related chronic diseases and micronutrient
Vegetables like cabbage, radish, cauliflower and green peas are imported on a large scale. 
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM WEEDS
 Some of the Weeds have Medicinal Value:
 i) Gumma ( Leuclas aspera) Used in snake bite
 ii) Oil of Piwals dhotra – Useful against skin disease.
 iii) Maka ( Eclipta erecta)- Against cough and as hair oil.
 iv) Garike (Cynodon dactylon) – Bhulokad sanjeevini

 Some of the Weeds have Economic Importance:

 Kans (Saccharum spontaneum) – Used for thatching purpose and breeding sugarcane varieties for including hardiness.
 Nutgrass/ Nutsedge – For making essence sticks (Udbatties)
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM WEEDS
 Reclamation of Alkali Soils:
 The application of powder of the weed stayanashi piwala dhotra ( Argemone Mexicana) @ 2.5 tonnes/ha is useful for
reclamation of alkali soils.

 Certain Weeds have Nematicidal Properties (Control of Nematodes) and many are used to prepare organic pesticides
 Crotalaria spp, Parthenium etc. when incorporated in to the soil help for control of nematodes.
EXAMPLES FOR BENEFITS OF WEEDS

Pest-repellent
 Phalsa tree, Jake (Cyperus esculentus) —repels leaf eating insects

Edible
 Chickweed (Stellaria media)—used in salads and also as ground cover

 Flatweed—leaves are edible raw, while roots are edible after being roasted

 Lamb's quarters—leaves and shoots, raw, also prevents erosion, also distracts 

leaf miners from nearby crops
 Nettle—young leaves collected before flowering used as a tea or spinach substitute.
Plants have use as compost material or for fibre.
 Purslane—prepared raw for salads or sautéed

 Shepherd's purse—leaves are edible and often sautéed or blanched

Habitat for beneficial insects

 Wild blackberry—attracts predatory insects, and produces berries

 Motherwort—attracts bees

 Aster—habitat predatory insects

Shelter plants
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CONTROL METHODS THAT WE FOLLOW TODAY

Mechanical Method
 hand pulling, hand weeding, burning, flooding, ploughing, and harrowing etc.
Cropping or cultural methods
 Continuous cropping with the same cropping system leads to greater infestation of
fallow helps in controlling the weeds effectively. Inter tilled crops like cotton and
crops like potato / groundnut which necessarily require digging of soil help in
reducing the infestation of weeds. Growing crops like sunhemp which have a very
vigorous and leafy growth help in smothering the weeds.
Biological Methods of weed control
 Plant or animal enemies of the weeds maybe used for their destruction. The most
notable example is control of prickly pear by using cochineal insects. The biological
control of weed is including the use of plant pathogens, nematodes, parasitic plants
and other organisms.
Chemical method of weed control
 Any chemical that kills the plants or inhibits their growth is known as herbicide and
the method of its application is called chemical method of weed control.
ANALYSE THE LOSSES DERIVED FROM
WEEDS
Direct Losses by weeds
 Weeds cause reduction in crop yield through competition for light, nutrient, water and
space. (till it is in early satge i.e 1/3rd of crop age, and if shade falls on the crop.)
 They can also reduce the yield of crop through the release of toxic substances. This is
called allelopathy. (but there are weeds which release hormones which are good. (pulse
weeds in cereals and vice versa)
 Weeds can reduce the quality of harvested agricultural products. (If weeds are taken care
as explained above we don’t get seeds of weeds in crop, still if we get most of them also
adds nutrition)
 Weeds interfere with harvest operations and increase the cost of harvesting in both small
holder and large scale farms. (true, again if weeds are used in their early age, weed
growth will not be that much)
 Weeds may poison animals . (true, but it is quite natural some times during severe hunger
they eat poisonous weeds or otherwise animals know what to eat and what not to eat.)
 The presence of weeds can impede water flow in irrigation canals. (very true - in natural
farming we don’t need such canals to be built and irrigation to be provided, our ancient
text shows them.)
 The presence of weeds in lakes and reservoir can increase loss of water by transpiration.
(we need to decide it - some times they may also reduce water loss by means of
evaporation)
ANALYSE THE LOSSES DERIVED FROM
WEEDS

Indirect Losses caused by weeds

 Weeds serve as alternate hosts to many plant diseases and
animal pests e.g insects, rodents, birds etc that attack crops.
(among insects 80% are beneficial and 20% are damaging,
when they are host for pest insects, they are also host for
beneficial insects where in it is good in farming)
Non Agricultural Losses
 Weeds affect health of humans, stinging nettle can cause skin
rashes and the flowers of some other weeds can be associated
with allergies in humans (yes – many fruits/grains that we eat
come in thorny plants, cows hit us , dogs bite us, that does not
mean we kill them, we need to live carefully with them. So in
case of weeds also we need to manage them).
Unwanted
or
less wanted
HOW TO MANAGE WEEDS NOW TO MAKE THEM
LESS WANTED RATHER THAN UNWANTED.
 Use as vegetable. So we get less seeds
 Use weeds as fodder by means of grazing also

 Stop using chemical fertilisers to reduce cost of farming .

 Add more of organic compost so that organic matter is

increased in soil making soil rich and reduce weed
growth.
 Use weeds as medicines (both for human beings and
animals) so that they get value.
 Choose crop, based on the weed types in the soil
WHAT IF WE KILL WEEDS

 Biodiversity and weed - The study identified 116

schemes from 24 central ministries and 29 departments
as biodiversity relevant.
 Financial needs assessment for the period (2017-18 to
2021-22) is assessed to be around Rs.1,15,970 Crore
 Harmful effects of herbicide - India: In October of 2018,
the government of Punjab banned the sale
of glyphosate in the state. ... In February of 2019,
the Indian state of Kerala issued a ban on the sale,
distribution and use of glyphosate.
Bidens pilosa Commelina spp
Alternanthera sessilis Tribulus terrestris
Cynodon dactylon Cyperus esculentus
Sonchus asper Portulaca quadrifida
WEEDS ARE THE GUARDIANS OF THE SOIL

Thank you
Questions