Vol. 12, Issue 5 (2023)

Author(s):
BK Dhaka, Prakriti, RD Jat, Kamal, Amit Sharma and Preeti

Abstract:
Organic farming which promotes and enhances Agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activities, may be more conducive to get long term sustainability in agriculture and to restore the productivity of degraded soils. Weeds as a key constraint in organic field decrease crop yields by increasing competition for inputs while serving as alternate host for pathogens. Weed management under organic farming is a holistic management system where farmer is not interested in eliminating all weeds but wants to keep them at a threshold level which is economical and manageable. Organic weed management relies on mechanical (tillage, cutting and pulling of weeds) biological (use of predatory or parasitic microorganisms or insects) and cultural methods (crop rotation, enhanced crop competitive ability, delayed or early seeding, flooding, mulching, inclusion of green manure and cover crops and intercropping) but these must be used in an integrated way to get effective and economical results. Adoption of appropriate crop rotations and smother/cover crops is very helpful for breaking pest cycles including weeds and it suppress weed population due to smothering and allopathic effects. Thorough understanding of bio control and allelopathy helps in weed control under organic farming. Crop competitive ability improvement using most suitable genotype, appropriate sowing/planting pattern and timely fertilization strategy may also be a viable approach to achieve desired weed management.