The organization organize a capacity building training programme for traditional farmers for the promotion of traditional practices in agriculture in the form of Organic Farming by reduce the burning processes of agriculture residues in the farm land & its utilize for the development of organic manure by Phospho-Sulpho-Nitoro Compost technique. The programme is organized at village level in five villages of sehore district in M.P. and develops a demonstration field for farmers as experimental basis. The programme is supported by M.P. Council for Science & Technology, Bhopal

Weed Management in Organic Farming

1. About organic weed management

2. Cultural method

3. Mechanical method

4. Thermal metho

5. Biological method

Farmers have struggled with the presence of weeds in their fields since the beginning of agriculture. Weeds can be considered a significant problem because they tend to decrease crop yields by increasing competition for water, sunlight and nutrients while serving as host plants for pests and diseases. Since the invention of herbicides, farmers have used these chemicals to eradicate weeds from their fields. Using herbicides not only increased crop yields but also reduced the labor required to remove weeds. Today, some farmers have a renewed interest in organic methods of managing weeds since the widespread use of agro-chemicals has resulted in purported environment and health problems. It has also been found that in some cases herbicides use can cause some weed species to dominate fields because the weeds develop resistance to herbicides. In addition, some herbicides are capable of destroying weeds that are harmless to crops, resulting in a potential decrease in biodiversity on farmers. It is important to understand that under an organic system of seed control, weeds will never be eliminated but only managed.

Critical period of weed control

This period has been defined as an interval in the life cycle of the crop when a must be kept weed – free to prevent yield loss. If weeds have been controlled throughout the critical period, the weeds that emerge later will not affect yield and can be controlled prior to harvest with a harvest and to burn down the weeds and desiccate the crop. Horticulture crops are very sensitive to weed competition, and need to kept weed-free, from planting, emergence or budbreak, until the end of their critical weed –free period. If the crop is kept weed-free for the critical period, generally no yield reduction would result. Again, weeds emerging after the critical weed-free period will not affect yield, but control efforts after this time may make harvest more efficient, or reduce weed problems in subsequent years in perennial crops.

Critical Weed-free Period for Horticultural Crops