ORGANIC WEED CONTROL

A farmer named Mr Jagannath Sahoo of village Budula, Orissa, India developed a wonderful idea of controlling weeds in vegetables during rainy season by covering the interspaces with the fresh leaves of Bhalia (Semecarpus anacardium). He first observed that the incidence of weeds in ginger (Gingiber officinalis) was much reduced by using the above leaves as mulching materials. Then he tried it with other vegetables and was successful. Mr Sahoo revealed this in a farmers’ fair and then a trial was conducted at KVK to find out validity of this innovation. From the preliminary study it was found that when the interspaces were covered with a single layer of fresh leaves the weed control was up to 50 % and it increased to 70 % due to covering with double layers. Apart from the mulching effect the leaf is expected to contain some poisonous chemicals.
Source; Barik, T. and Barik, K.C. 2006. Indigenous Knowledge, Agricultural Festivals and Farmers' Informal Experiments of Bargarh District. pp. 42. In: Extension Bulletin No. 27, Published by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bargarh, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India.