MECHANICAL WEED MANAGEMENT IN COFFEE

摘要

Coffee in India is grown in fertile soils with adequate supply of moisture and nutrients for major part of the year. These conditions encourage prolific weed growth in coffee fields. Weeds compete with coffee plants for light, water, mineral nutrientsand space. They are reported to reduce yields of coffee up to 30-50% if not controlled properly. In young clearings weeds pose a serious problem particularly during the first three years thereby affecting proper establishment of coffee. The heavily pruned fields, where ground is exposed, are also prone to weed menace. Further, weeds harbour pests and diseases and interfere with cultural operations like manuring, spraying, harvesting etc. Thus weed control is a major operation in coffee estates accounting for about 8% to 10% of the total man day requirement per year. Besides this, the weeding rounds coincide with other important operations like manuring, spraying, harvesting etc. thus putting a lot of pressure on management of estates. Unfortunately, the work force is becoming scarcer by the year due to migration of workers to urban areas in search of better earnings and living conditions.