Weed pest no longer a bottleneck in raising rice-wheat productivity. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project title: R7331: Minimising the economic and sociological impact of Phalaris minor in rice/wheat ecosystems.
Thousands of farmers in rice-wheat areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains now practice reduced tillage to control the weed Phalaris minor. This pest was a major bottleneck in raising yields. Previously, farmers didn't understand how long the weed seeds survived in the soil and what caused them to start growing. Now, they've stopped ploughing their fields because they know that this encourages the weed seeds to germinate. Farmers in Haryana State and Punjab, India, successfully used low tillage to control Phalaris. The technique has already spread throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plains in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Besides curbing the weed, low tillage also reduces erosion, improves soil fertility and lowers input costs—fuel, farm machinery and labour.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (11 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP72, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 36.