06 Nov Bioherbicides a Tool to Manage the Weeds in Organic Farming
जैवशाकनाशी: जैविक कृषि में खरपतवार प्नबंधन हेतू उपकरण In irrigated agriculture, weed control through chemical herbicides, creates spray drift hazards and adversely affects the environment. Besides, pesticide residues (herbicides) in food commodities, directly or indirectly affect human health. These lead to the search for an alternate method of weed management, which is eco-friendly. In this regard the biological approach is gaining momentum. Utilization of plant pathogens for weed control was first reported in the early 1900s, but the concept of using bioherbicides to control weeds attracted wide interest among weed scientists and plant pathologists after the Second World War. The earliest experiments simply involved fungus Fusarium oxysporum against prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficusindica (L.) Mill.). In the 1950s, the Russians mass produced the spores of Alternaria cuscutacidae and applied them to the parasitic weed dodder (Cuscata spp.). In 1963, the Chinese mass produced a different fungus (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) for Cuscata spp. They called their mycoherbicide “LuBao” and an improved formulation is still in use today. Commercial bioherbicides first appeared in the market in USA in early 1980s with the release of the products Devine, Collego and Biomal. Success stories of these products and the expectation of obtaining perfect analogues of chemical herbicides have opened a new vista for weed management. Plant pathologists and weed...