Kerala - Kannur   

Keep weeds at bay with paper

Protective cover: Paper sheet being laid between lines of rice seedlings to control weeds.

KANNUR: Using paper to control weeds in paddy fields? Odd as it may sound, an innovative farmer, who is an agricultural officer, has come out with a claim, supported by experiments in his own small paddy field at Thodeekalam here, that paper rolls can be used for weeding.

Raveendran Thodeekalam, agricultural officer at the Krishi Bhavan, Peravur, tried it out on the 15-cent paddy field as part of his search for a practicable weeding method.

The experiment is encouraging, as it is less costly and more effective, he says.

The experiment has its origin in 2006-07 when he took to SRI (System of Rice Intensification) paddy cultivation, which requires less water, in the third crop season. He repeated it in the third crop season of 2007-08. A major problem in the first year was the high growth of weeds where there was a gap of 1 foot (0.3 metres) between the lines of the transplanted seedlings.

“Weeds grew high when the field was fully drained of water for water management under the SRI system, which requires less water,” he says. He had to spend Rs. 600 on clearing weeds. That prompted him to use paper in 2007-08.

He sowed the high-yielding rice seeds on a mat nursery. Between each line of the seedlings transplanted on half the field, he laid a paper sheet of the width of 1 foot. The other half he cultivated as earlier.

In the experimental half, there was hardly any weed up to 30 days.

The seedlings had more tiller shoots, up to 68 for each. After that, weeds grew, though fewer than in the other half. He spent Rs. 250 on weeding and Rs. 70 on the paper roll.

The Agriculture Department here is preparing for trials of the method on farmers’ fields.

P.P. Rasheed Ali, Deputy Director of Agriculture, said there was a proposal for field trials in the coming two seasons under the Agriculture Technology Management Agency scheme. These would be held at Peravur and Chittariparamba.

Mr. Thodeekalam said polythene sheets would be used instead of paper in the trials.

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