Crop and Soil Responses to Post-Emergence Tillage and Weed Control in Lowland Rice

Siopongco, Joel D. L. C.; Ingram, Keith T.; Pablico, Paquito P. and Moody, Keith. 1994. Crop and Soil Responses to Post-Emergence Tillage and Weed Control in Lowland Rice. Ex. Agric., Volume 30 no. 1 p. 95-103

Beusani is a rice crop management system practised in rainfed lowland areas of eastern India whereby rice is dry-seeded, then wet-ploughed at 30–50 days after emergence and the land levelled by drawing a board across the field. Field experiments showed that beusani enhances rooting, especially in shallow soil layers, as a result of reduced penetration resistance. Although beusani reduced weed biomass by 38%, it was not as effective as application of herbicide followed by hand weeding, which reduced biomass by 87%. Yields were directly related to weed control, so beusani treatments did not yield as much as the herbicide plus hand weeding treatments in these experiments.