Proper arrangement of resources and techniques to check losses to crops through different factors is called as Crop Protection Management.
Factors that usually harm our crops are weeds, pests, and disease causing microorganisms.
Weeds and their control
The undesired plants that grow in our crops and tend to harm crop plants through various ways are called as weeds. Even a crop plant if it grows among the plants of other crop may be considered as a weed. Xanthium, Parthenium, Cyprus, Chowlai, Bathua, Hirankhuri, oats etc. are some examples of weeds.
Harmful effects of weeds
Weeds compete with our crops and absorb water and nutrients available to our plants. They occupy space and grab the share of sunlight available to our plants. This leads to weakness of our crop plants and reduction in production.
Weeds check expansion and development of crop plants. This further leads to reduced production. Seeds of weeds get mixed with seeds of our crop plants and reduce the quality of grains. These seeds invite many types of insects during storage and contaminate our food items.
Weed Control
Some important methods of controlling weeds are mentioned below-
- Uprooting by hand; eradication by khurpi, by machines or by ploughing,
- By adapting crop-rotation,
- Application of weedicides like 2, 4-D; Fluchlorelin, Isoproturon, Semazene, Tock etc.
- Applying biological methods like the application of insects- and weedicides bacteria etc.
Pests and their control
Organisms that harm crops or human beings are called as pests. Specific pests that often cause harm to our crops are -Arthropods, Mollusks or snails, birds and mammals (Like Neelgai, wild buffaloes etc.).
Insect pests harm our crops in three specific ways-
- By cutting or boring leaves and stems,
- By Sucking saps of cells in different parts,
- By Making holes in fruits and other parts
Pesticide chemicals or biological pesticides are used for controlling pests. The Government of India has launched an ambitious project called as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for the control of pests. Pesticides are of different categories like weedicides, insecticides, fungicides etc.
The application of synthetic chemical pesticides is very harmful to environment. These poisonous substances join food-chains and cause poisoning everywhere in the environment. These poisonous substances get accumulated in the fatty tissues of consumers. Their concentration goes on increasing there. It is called as Biomagnifications.
key words : crop management, weed, pest, pesticide, biomagnification
