HELLO HIVE

The growing need for sustainable agricultural practices that aim to meet the current food needs without compromising future food needs has led to an increasing need to understand our environment even more with several research studies being conducted to understand how crops react around certain weeds and how we can improve the agricultural system. Sustainable farming has to meet the economic, health and social needs of the environment.

Weeds have different roles in our farms, some weeds are there to cause harm while others can actually help the cultivation of crops in different ways that we might not have imagined Weeds are naturally part of our ecosystem so weeds are not plants that just spring up all of a sudden weeds have always been there with some of their seeds lasting years in the ground before they finally germinate while other seeds are naturally germinating every year.

farming and while some farmers are looking for a way to get rid of these weeds other farmers are looking for smart ways to put these weeds into use, like for mulching plants like yam and fluted pumpkin, also as soil fertilizers and for soil stabilization.

• Weeds can be of utmost benefit if we employ the agroecological process where weeds can be used to facilitate plant growth without affecting the plant.

When I was planting my rice directly on the farm I did the planting directly on the farm with grasses all over the farm after which I sprayed on the farm the result that I have is exactly what the plant needs, the weed in the farm provides so many benefits to the rice seedlings two of which are

• helping the rice seedlings grow undetected from the eyes of prey like birds and rats with this strategy the seedlings will grow till the height respects does not cause any kind of damage to them anymore.

• soil fertilizer: the grasses that are now dead from the effect of the herbicide will serve as a good source of organic fertilizer once the rain starts falling and the farm is swamped that way the dead weeds will rot inside the swamp releasing all their nutrients in the process.

Farmers can embrace sustainable weed management control which is gradually becoming a more balanced approach to farming.

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