The Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV) will develop a 'weed atlas' to provide information on the undesirable plants found in plains of Chhattisgarh to farmers.
"The atlas will be prepared after mapping various weeds found in plains of the state. Though, there are thousands of weeds varieties but we will try to cover most of it," Dr Shrikant Chitale, senior scientist department of Agronomy in the city-based IGKV told PTI.
The decision in this regard was recently taken by the Directorate of Weed Research (DWR under Indian Council of Agriculture Research), Jabalpur, head Dr P K Singh and his assistants while reviewing the All India Weed Management Project being conducted by the varsity, he said.
The atlas will cater details related to characteristics of weeds andprevention of its introduction and multiplication and it will be later uploaded on a mobile app named "Weed Manager" developed by DWR for use of farmers, students and industry professionals, Chitale said.
A couple of years ago, a scientist from Jagdalpur agriculture college (affiliated to IGKV) had developed an atlas of weeds found in Bastar region, which has densely forested and hilly geographical condition, while so far no such step was taken for plains, he said.
The review team from DWR appreciated the experiments done under weed management projects in the university and asked to disseminate its conclusions to farmers so that they can implement it on their farms, he said.
The weed atlas, will be compiled in the form of a booklet, which will have crop name and images of common dominated weeds of particular crop with their control measures, he said.
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These booklets will be distributed to Kisan Vigyan Kendra (KVK) set up in different districts of the state for use of farmers, he said.
It will help farmers for better crop and weed management keeping the weed population at a level that does not result in loss of the crop cultivation or harm its quality, he said.
Farmers and agriculture practitioners will have more knowledge about cropping and weed management techniques for ensuring better productivity in the state, he added.
Besides, the atlas will also be used in academic purpose in agriculture institutions in the state, Chitale signed off.