Integrated Weed Management (IWM) for Sustainable Agriculture – A Review

Abstract— Weeds are defined as any growing plant infield, where it is not wanted and weeds are also used as feed for the animals. Weeds are creating a big problem in agriculture by reducing the growth and development of crops and minimizing the yield of the crops. Weeds are the major problem in agriculture therefore management practices require increasing the yield of the crops. Sustainable agriculture is defined as a farming system that meets foods for the present population by reducing the use of chemicals. Integrated weed management (IWM) is defined as a process that synchronizes the use of major and minor information on the environment, ecology, and biology of weeds, and ecologically controlling the weeds from fields. Yield losses in soybean may range from 25 to 70 %, 40-80 % in onion, 40-70% in maize, 40-50% in rice, and 25-50% in wheat depending upon the intensity and infestation of weeds. Rice residues as mulching at 6 and 7 t/ha and adding post-emergence herbicides like clodinafop 60 g/ha, sulfosulfuron 25 g/ha, and mesosulfuron+iodosulfuron 14.4 g/ha were found more effective to control weeds like P. minor and also board leaf weeds from the wheat field. Zero tillage is generally done in wheat crops and also in maize crops to minimize of cost of cultivation. The incorporation of daincha and azolla in a field generally increases the yield of the crops during the early stages.