Weed Management in Conservation Agriculture

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) is a system designed to achieve agricultural sustainability by improving the biological functions of the agro-ecosystem with limited mechanical practices and judicious use of chemical inputs. This system comprises three core principles. i. Direct sowing/planting with minimum soil disturbance using zero, strip or reduced tillage. ii. Permanent vegetative residue for soil cover, and iii. Rotation of primary crops in conjunction with other good practices of crop management. Conservation agriculture has been adopted on over 257million hectares (Mha) globally in large farming system and there is an increasing trend of its adoption in small hold farming in Asian countries.