Field Manual of Weed Ecology and Herbicidal Research

About this eBook

PREFACE
For sustainable and stable economic growth of any country the need to raise the agricultural production can not be overem phasised. With the help of sophisticated farm technology, the agricultural production is increasing but much of it is being lost at many stages. The first stage can be the onslaught of weeds on the tender crop seedlings as soon as they emerge from the soil. These weeds plunder the nutrients, water and other vital growth require ments and reduce the crop yields as much as 60 percent. The in volvement of heavy fertilisation resulted in prolific weed growth. If these weeds are not controlled, the purpose of high yielding tech nology gets defeated. In ancient sanskrit literature there is a vivid description of vegetation and other flora as related to the environment. Some greek philosophers such as Theophrastus 300 BC also gave the ecologi cal relationship of weed flora in their writings. However the phenomena was based on hypothesis but not tested experimentally. Weed ecology is the most exciting field of the scientists today. Working with techniques adapted from different allied subjects, weed scientist begun to unravel the secrets of weed ecosystem. Agronomists and botanists have begun to join hands to give a worthwhile ecological shape to study the weeds and their nature. Scientific endeavors in the field of weed ecology helps in under standing the sociology of weeds and provide a route to the satisfac tory weed control. In the last few years, most of the universities have realised the fact and introduced the subject at post graduate level. At this juncture, teachers and taught felt the greatest necessity of a book which could introduce the methodology of weed ecological
research on modern lines. The excitement of research on the control of weeds had its impact on the teaching of weed science in the universities. Scientists and publishers strove to modernise their text books to emphasize the discoveries made in chemical control. The result was a serious im balance in the way in which the weed science were presented to students and researchers. Many students know more about hundreds of chemicals than they know about the functioning of weed ecosystem. The scientific problems involved in them are still much larger than the progress that has been made in solving them. Like any developing sciences weed control will continue maturing only as its practitioners expand and refine their research technology. More screening of chemicals for weed control in various crops is no longer sufficient. The safety of soil, atmosphere and preservation of ecological balance is necessary through collecting extensive data concerning herbicidal residues in soils and crops and shifting of weed flora. There is a need to provide flexible guidelines for suc cessfully carrying out the crucial field segment of weed control ex perimentation. As a researcher and organizer of field trials in weed control, I have felt the necessity of a book which will give a fairly comprehensive