Today we will be talking about 6 effects of weeds in Agriculture. The fact that everyone has the basic knowledge of weeds as an unwanted plant does not mean that all weeds can cause harm and disrupt plants. It only means that they are not wanted at that point. It is the job of the darker to evacuate any competitor that can cause slight harm to the growth of their weeds. All farmers are saddled with the responsibility to avoid the disturbance that will result in their plants by weeds.

Weeds are one of the biggest challenges to crop plants so it has it’s own disadvantages. These weeds reduce the yields and output of the farmers. Therefore this is a loss on the farmland during harvest season. The failure of a farmer or his laborer to distract the growth of weeds on their farmland will lead to something tough which cant be controlled in the long run. It can just happen anytime where you observe that your products are nothing.

In other words, a weed is any unwanted plant growing in an unexpected place it will just sprout from the ground without any notice and will fall on the farmland.

Effects of weeds in Agriculture

Weeds are competitive factors to plants. They don’t grow normally and they don’t allow the planted crips to grow actively. They are hinders and competitors of plant growth. But that is the main effect they cause on farmland, there are still other effects to look out for.

1. Competition: They compete with crops for space, nutrients, salts, water and organic matters which tend to help for the viable growth of the plants.

2. Pest and disease: Weeds are the first cause of plants and diseases. They attract pests and disease, therefore, getting contracts by the normal crops planted on a piece of land. They are the main target but they end up surfing and causing harm to other plants. This is a very easy way to discover if weeds are on your farmland.

3. Loses in the quality of crops: The quality of the crops will extremely reduce as well as the quality of the crops. This is due to the competitive factors of these weeds. They don’t allow the plant to achieve the desired result when they deprive it of tough water and food. Their competition is so intense that if they are not removed, they tend to create a change in the predicted quality of the crop.

4. Reduces Yield: After all of the effort put in the planting and cultivation of crops, they eventually got damaged by weeds and the yields are nothing to write home about.

5. Poisonous weeds: Some weeds are poisonous to the extent that they can cause the death of livestock. Animals that tend to eat them will get poisoned because they contain some chemicals which are very poisonous to the life of man and animals.

6. Weeds Contaminate Water: During surface irrigation, water flows from the rivers to the farmland and the farmlands back to the rivers again. This can cause the mixing of the chemicals in weeds with the water. When this happens, it causes a lot of destruction to the organisms living under the water. This may cause problems for the users of the river. People, animals, birds, fishes and every other organism will suffer from these bad chemicals discharge by the weed.

Benefits and Effects of weeds on plants

Weeds are also very beneficial to the farmland. No matter the problem they cause to farmland and the plants on it, they still serve unique purposes.

1. Organic matters: Some weeds serve as organic matter when buried in the soil. They are a relatively good source for organic matters after their decomposition under the ground. This means that they will return all the nutrients they have been a factor against to the ground. This nutrient can be the survival factor for the farmland. All this means that immediately you plan on getting rid of your weeds, just make sure you can channel them directly o direct soil so they can decompose and dispose of all their nutrients to the soil.

2. Stop Erosion: Weds can serve as the main reason why your farm is not being overpowered by heavy rainfall. Weeds help you to check erosion by becoming the cover crop in that instance.

3. Food: Some of the weeds looks like a vegetable. They are very prominent in the soil so they grow as leafy vegetables. They will be cooked and then eaten. They have a good prestige for minerals and vitamins. Some of them include Math (Amaranthus Viridis) and Kunjru ( Digerati arvensis).

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