Advantages And Disadvantages Of Weeds

Advantages of Weeds

Listed are a few Advantages of Weeds

1.Few Weeds are edible and have medicinal properties: Some weeds, such as Pathari, Math, and Ghol, are leafy vegetables that are mainly edible, and others, such as Gumma (used to treat snake bites) and oil of pivala dhotra (used to treat skin diseases), have medicinal characteristics. Weeds are so advantageous in a variety of ways.

2. Property of manure: Manure is used to improve soil fertility, and because weeds have a high nutritional content, manure made from them is also extremely nutritious for other plants.

3. Home for many creatures: It is home to a variety of insects that aid in pollination. It also attracts a variety of microorganisms that aid in the transformation of organic materials into humus. It also draws worms, which aid in soil loosening. As a result, we may conclude that weeds are beneficial to farmers.

4. Any excess of nutrients is stabilized: Weeds correct nutrient imbalances in the soil and enhance soil quality; the process may take a few years, decades, or even millennia.

5. Check soil, wind, and water erosion:Weeds that thrive in the area, particularly in uninhabited places, are extremely useful in determining if the area has experienced soil, water, or wind erosion.

6. Fodder for animals: Many weeds have a delicious flavour that herbivorous animals like. Many times, the area is converted to grazing land, where these types of weeds thrive.

7. Used for decoration at homes: Many flowering weeds and plants are kept at home for decoration, which enhances the charm of the home garden.

8. Economical Value: Many weeds, such as nutgrass and kans, are sold on the worldwide market, which greatly boosts their economic value. Kans is used for thatching and nutgrass is used to manufacture essence sticks.

9. Also controls nematode: Weeds including Calotropis spp., Parthenium, and others inhibit nematodes like roundworms.

10. Weeds Add Organic Matter and Nutrients to the Soil: Many weeds have lush foliage growth and provide a significant quantity of organic matter and plant nutrients when buried in the soil as green manure.

Weeds contribute 5 to 15 tonnes of green matter per hectare, depending on the type of weed and its growth rate.

Nutrient contents of some weeds are given below:

Gokhru (Xanthium strumarium) – 3 to 3.5 % N
Bavachi ( Psoralea corylifolia) – 3 to 3.5 % N
Leguminous weeds – 1.5 to 6 % N.

11. Weeds Check Wind, Water and Soil Erosion:

Weeds that thrive in deserts, wastelands, and sloppy fields assist safeguard the ecosystem by reducing wind and water erosion.

12. Some of the Weeds are used as Fodder for Animal:

Some weeds have a pleasant flavour.

13. Some of the Weeds are used as Leafy Vegetables:

E. g 1. Tandulaja (Amaranthus Polygamus)
2. Math (Amaranthus viridis)
3. Kunjru ( Digera arvensis)
4. Ghol ( Portulaca spp)
5. Pathari ( Lactuca runcinata)

14. Some of the Weeds have Medicinal Value:

i) Gumma ( Leuclas aspera) Used in snake bite
ii) Oil of Piwals dhotra – Useful against skin disease.
iii) Maka ( Eclipta erecta)- Against cough and as hair oil.

15. Some of the Weeds have Economic Importance:

Kans (Saccharum spontaneum) – Used for thatching purpose and breeding sugarcane varieties for including hardiness.
Nutgrass/ Nutsedge – For making essence sticks (Udbatties)

16. Reclamation of Alkali Soils:

The application of powder of the weed stayanashi piwala dhotra ( Argemone Mexicana) @ 2.5 tonnes/ha is useful for reclamation of alkali soils.

17. Some of the Weeds Serves as Ornamental and Hedge Plants:

Ghaneri ( Lantana camara) and Cactus – Used as ornamental and hedge plants.
Ghol( Portulaca spp) – For beautiful flowers.

18. Certain Weeds have Nematicidal Properties (Control of Nematodes)

Crotalaria spp; Calotropis spp, Parthenium etc. when incorporated in to the soil help for control of nematodes.

19. Weeds can be used for Paper Pulp, Bio-gas and Manufacture of Edible Proteins.

20. Some of the Weeds are used for Religious Purpose E. g Hariali, Aghada, Maka etc.

Disadvantages of Weeds

Listed are a few disadvantages of Weeds

1. Reduces moisture in the soil: Many times weeds absorb the nutrients as well as moisture in the soil to grow and don’t allow the main crop as well as land to be water-laden thus also making it drought-prone.

2. Adds to the maintenance cost of a farmer: As weeds are unwanted plants therefore they must be removed from the field either with expensive weedicides or manually uprooted which is a time taking process. Thus it adds up to the cost of farmers.

3. Few weeds may cause diseases: Few weeds can even be dangerous as they are Noxious and may lead to various skin diseases and allergies and may also be fatal.

4. Can harm the animals: Not only for humans but also for animals who don’t even have an idea of weeds’ nature, could be harmed by noxious weeds. They can get diseased and may also be the reason for spreading diseases.

5. The efficiency of irrigation is reduced: Irrigation helps the crops and plants to grow well but weeds are the enemy plant for the main crop and also use the efficiency of irrigation and don’t allow the main crops to absorb the irrigated water. Thus the efficiency of irrigation gets reduced.

6. Land value gets reduced: Land which is highly infested with weeds that grow endlessly often reduces the quality of the land. And thus the land value gets reduced.

7. Production of the main crop reduces: The yield of the main crop can get reduced if weeds continue to grow on the same cropland. Thus the production of the main crop gets reduced.