Crop Protection and Weeding

Crop protection is a generic strategy or technique for defending crop yields against a variety of species, such as pests, weeds, plant diseases, and other creatures that harm crops. In addition to weeds, tiny creatures like rodents, mites, insects, pests, disease-causing diseases, and regularly
attacked by birds, agricultural areas would also include crops. The loss or damage to the crops is mostly caused by all of these variables. Farmers must thus safeguard their crops against these pests to produce large yields of crops. Therefore, crop protection is essential before, during, and following cultivation.

Integrated Weed Management (IWM) is a procedure in which all the chemical, physical, and biological approaches are used to control the weeds. Such practices help to increase production, and better environmental conditions. 

What is Weed?

Weeds are any undesired plants or we can say that a plant that grows where it is not needed or desired, especially while man is trying to develop
a crop. Unwanted weeds plants are that develop next to good ones. These unwanted, persistent, dangerous plants prevent the growth of other crop plants and harm daily life, agricultural output, natural phenomena, and the economy of the country. Weeds can perform crucial ecological functions such as preserving and reclaiming exposed or degraded soils. 

Weeds are the competitor of the main crop. They compete for food and shelter with the main crop, which directly affects the main crop productivity. Weeds are crucial in the natural and biological control of many insect pests because they serve as habitats for helpful organisms. The most common examples of weeds are grass, algae, parthenium, and Xanthium.

Types of Weed

There are three varieties: broadleaf, grass-like, and grassy. 

• Grassy: Actual grasses that grow and sprout like the grasses we want in our lawns are known as grassy-type weeds. Foxtails, goosegrass, crabgrass, and quackgrass are a few examples of this type.
• Grass-like weeds: When examined closely, grass-like weeds have triangular-shaped stems rather than the usual spherical ones found in grass. Wild garlic, nutsedge, and the star of Bethlehem are a few examples.
• Broadleaf: One of the most prevalent and well-known weeds is the broadleaf variety. They feature broad, wide, flat leaves, as their name implies, and they are arranged on a stem much like flowers. The veins of leaves frequently resemble nets. Dandelions, ground ivy, white clover, chickweed, carpet weed, and violets are a few examples.

Crop Protection through Weeding

Removing undesirable plants from a field is the practice of weeding. The two main techniques for weeding an agricultural area are tilling and mowing. During tilling, weed plants are uprooted and eliminated. Unwanted plants are removed from a field by mowing. Weed prevention, control, and eradication are all methods for controlling weeds. There are several techniques for weddings:

Weeds are sprayed with weed killers

In the fields, weeds can be controlled by the use of weed killers. Weed killers come in a variety of forms, including contact, systematic, residual, selective, and non-selective. DDT (dichloro-diphenyl- trichloroethane) and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid are two examples of weed killers.]

Pre-emergent Herbicides

Herbicides that are applied before weeds emerge from the soil attack weed issues. This kind of weed killer is spread on top of the soil, ideally following the planting of annual or perennial plants. To allow the herbicide to penetrate deeply into the soil, one must mulch the soil surface and sprinkle granular herbicides; one must then irrigate the surface following application.

Hand Pulling

It requires a lot of labor. Garners dig each weed individually with a shovel. A rake used to eliminate weeds from surrounding plants is called a hand cultivator. Regular hand weeding is done by gardeners to keep the garden looking well. A tiller is also used during cultivation to churn the soil and remove weeds.

Mulches 

Before the emergence of weeds from the soil, herbicides are used to combat the problem. Ideally, annual or perennial plants should have already been planted before applying this type of weed killer to the soil’s surface. Mulch the soil surface and scatter granular herbicides to allow the herbicide to penetrate deeply into the soil. After application, water the surface.

Weed removal using a trowel and harrow

You can cut the weed’s roots with the tool’s blade by inserting spades or trowels into the ground in a circle around the weed’s base. The field is first plowed to eradicate weeds before planting the seeds. In this method, we can prevent weeds by plowing the whole field before planting seeds.

FAQs on Crop Protection and Weeding

Question 1: What are the different ways by which weeds might harm livestock?

Answer:

Weeds are unwanted plants growing in the crop field. It will directly affect the productivity of the field. Weed competes with the crop for food and shelter. Some weeds released poisonous substances which harm the main crop.

Question 2: Why it is essential to understand weeds?

Answer:

It is important to exclude weeds from the field to increase its productivity. For this purpose, it is important to understand about weeds are essential.

Question 3: Explain methods to control Weed.

Answer:

Different methods used to control wees are:

• Chemical Spray
• Hand-Pulling
• Crop Rotation
• Fire