Impacts of Weeds on Agriculture

Weeds not only cause problems in our agricultural fields, but they also make the life troublesome for the common man, infesting the home gardens, health issues like allergies due to pollen, polluting the water bodies and so on. The following article is in the continuation of weed science and we will see the troubles caused by weeds.

A gardener using sword to eradicate weeds from fallow land

1. Lower Crop Yields

Weeds in the agricultural fields provide competition to the crop plants in a number of ways, for example, for nutrients, light, water and allelopathic compounds. This reduces the crop growth and yields. Management of these weeds is an expensive but necessary part of modern day agriculture; hence increasing the cost of production.

2. Lower Animal/ Livestock Yields

Livestock yields are also reduced due to weeds. The presence of weeds in the agricultural land reduces fodder crops or range forage additionally presence of poisonous weeds may can health hazards, reduced growth of animals and/or death.

3. Lowering Land Use Efficiency

The presence of weeds in a piece of land can affect its value in s number of ways like increase in the cost of production, crop management, harvest and maintenance of non-crop land. Weed infestation limits the choice of crops in a given piece of lands, reduced plant growth and hence the value of such piece of land also declines.

4. Hosts of Insects and Plant Disease organisms

Weeds often serve as hosts to harboring eggs of insects and when the crops are in fields, the insect larvae infect the crops causing damage. For example, aphids and cabbage root maggots live in mustard and later attack cabbage, cauliflower, radish, and turnips.

Similarly, weeds also serve as the alternate of many disease causing organisms of crop plants and viruses. For example, black stem rust may use barberry, quackgrass, or wild oat as a host before to attacking wheat, oats, or barley. Potato leaf roll virus also thrives on black nightshade.

5. Reduction in Human Efficiency

Weeding, hoeing and weed control practices are very time consuming. The farmers who manually root out weeds take a lot of time even many days are required to clean a field of weeds infestation. On the other hand chemical control is expensive, has health hazards and environmental concerns. But modern chemicals may be environment friendly but cost is high which ultimately increases cost of production

6. Poor Quality Farm Product

The presence of weed products in the crop produce like weed seeds in grain crops, weed trash in hay and cotton not only reduce their quality but the market price is also reduced causing reduction in farmer income.

7. Irrigation and Drainage Problems

The problem of weeds infestation not only haunts the agricultural fields but also the water channels, canals and lakes. Their presence reduces the water flow, creates displeasing odor sometimes and spread of weed seeds to the agricultural fields is common.

At recreational places, weeds plague the natural beauty of the land and water. Household drainage is also affected by weeds; sometimes causing health issues.

8. Impacts on Human Health

The presence of weed around us causes health concerns for us as well. Poisonous weeds, spiny and thorny weeds and pollen allergies from are common. Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison are prominent in this regard; children occasionally die from eating poisonous plants or fruits.

9. Higher Costs of Production

In the light of above discussion about the impacts of weeds in our fields and daily life, weeds must be controlled. Weed management is dependent on the environmental conditions, crop present, type and stage of weed and above all, the availability of resources. But under all these circumstances, the cost of production will increase which will affect the price of the product and hence, the price of living will also increases.