Preventive and curative method of weed control
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Preventive method of weed control

1. Use of clean seeds/ weed free seed.
2. Do not feed your animals by containing weed seed without destroying viability of weed seeds through grinding or cooking.
3. Do not use manure unless viability of weed seeds has been destroyed by through fermentation.
4. Do not permit live stock to move from infested area to clean areas.
5. Clean the harvester, thresher, tractor wheels and other implements before moving them from infested areas.
6. Avoid sand or soil filling from infested areas.
7. Keep the banks of irrigation canals free from weed plants.
8. Inspect nursery plants before selling them, for presence of weed seeds or weed suckers.

Curative methods of weed control

(A) Mechanical / Physical methods

1. Hand weeding
2. Hand hoeing
3. Digging
4. Mowing
5. Dredging and chaining
6. Burning and Flaming
7. Mulching
8. Flooding

(B) Cultural / Agronomic methods

1. Field preparation:
2. Summer tillage:
3. Mulching:
4. Solarisation
5. Stale seedbed
6. Blind tillage
7. Selection of proper crop and their variety
8. Planting density / sowing distance
9. Cropping systems
10. Cover crops/ competative crops / smoother crops

(C) Biological methods

Examples of biological control
1. Water haycinth is controlled by Haycinth moth
2. Opuntia is controlled by scale insects
3. Parthenium is by Zygogramma beetle
4. Strangler vine (Morrenia odorata) controlled by fungus- Phytophthora palmivora (Devine) in citrus gardens Devine is a bioherbicide
5. Mammals – Manetee or sea cow is very effective in controlling water hyacinth a aquatic weed.
6. Fish also helps in controlling aquatic weeds.
7. Cow pea sown in between rows of sorghum effectively reduces the growth of weed.


(D) Chemical method of weed control

(a) Selective herbicide
(b) Non- selective herbicid


Biological weed control of Lantana camera

Biological weed control