Integrated weed management in direct seeded rice in Trans Indo-Gangetic plains of India- A review

Abstract

In the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is taken by conventional tilled puddled transplanted (CT-PTR) method. CT-PTR requires a lot of water (2000-2500 mm) which comes mainly from groundwater. Due to declining water table and changing climate, the sustainability of CT-PTR rice is under immense pressure. The alternative to CT-PTR could be direct seeded rice (DSR) which requires less water, labor, initial cost and energy than CT-PTR. But direct seeded rice is heavily infested with weeds which cause severe loss to the grain yield. Thus, the success of aerobic rice depends on effective and timely weed control. As a single weed control method may not be successful on a long term basis, weed problem in direct seeded rice needs to be solved by integrated approach. Integrating cultural, mechanical and chemical methods along with highly competitive cultivars with effective allelopathic properties, effective weed management on long term sustainable basis can be achieved.