An Analysis of weed Management Practices under Different Cropping Systems in rice Zone of the Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Weeds are key competitors of the crops and usually become the reason of decline in average production of the major and minor crops. It is estimated that weeds potentially decrease the crops production up to 40% if not managed in time. In order to increase the production, boost the return and sustain the livelihoods of farmers, it is obligatory to manage the weeds through different techniques. Considering the importance of weed management, this study was conducted in the rice zone of the Punjab province. Of the seven districts of the rice zone, this study was conducted in district Gujranwala. From the four cropping systems a sample of 356 rice growers was selected. Sample included 122 farmers from rice-wheat, 101 from rice-maize, 70 from rice-potato and 63 farmers from rice-peas cropping system. Data were collected through face-to-face interview technique and collected data were analyzed using the computer programme Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The socio-economic profile indicated that the farmers falling in age bracket of 35-50 years were prominent (41%). Slightly more than one fifth (22.2%) of respondents were illiterate and 39% were literate and had a primary level of education indicating a below average educational level of farmers in the area. One forth (24.4%) of farmers had large farm sizes consisting of more than 10 acres and agriculture was the key source of income for most of the farmers. Regarding the area under cultivation, most of the farmers were cultivating the small lands (under 12.5 acres). The general awareness about the broad and narrow leaf weeds was prominent, however the awareness about the level of damage caused by the weeds was low among farmers across all four cropping systems indicating an awareness gap. Farmers had awareness regarding non-chemical weed management techniques and the adoption of techniques such as use of clean seed, keeping livestock out of field and adoption of manual weeding. These techniques were common among farmers however reservations existed that these techniques were time consuming and labor intensive. Alternatively, the farmers were more reliant on chemical weeds control. The chemicals used for the pre-emergence and post emergence control were usually known to farmers due to the extensive role of pesticide dealers and private extension agents. However, the adoption of the recommended chemicals was lower and few of the chemicals were in practice despite the various options. This could be due to persistent use of traditional information sources by the farmers. For example, EFS of private sector, EFS of public sector, fellow farmers, pesticide dealers and mobile phones were the widely used information sources across the four cropping systems. Lack of knowledge, interest, motivation, exposure to information sources and conservative behavior were all key reasons impeding the awareness among farmers regarding different techniques of weed control. Moreover, shortage of finance, high inputs cost, high cost of diesel and inadequate knowledge were some other highly ranked challenges hindering their adoption. The findings of regression analysis affirmed that 42% change in weed management practices was explained by the five variables of age, education, experience, income and source of information in the model. The overall findings indicate an adoption gap for the different weed management techniques across the four cropping systems for the many reasons. In this context, this study urges more positivistic role from the institutes such as research, agricultural extension and agricultural information units. The collaborative work of public sector extension and private sector extension is the need of the hour for the facilitation of farmers.