Weed Management of Aromatic Fine Rice in Bangladesh : A Review

Rice is a staple meal for almost half of the world’s population including Bangladesh. It is the primary source of energy as well as it can contain decent amounts of fiber, protein, vitamin B, iron and manganese. It can thus play a crucial role in combating malnutrition. Rice makes up 95 percent of the overall food production in Bangladesh. A small but unique rice community, which covers 2 percent of Bangladesh’s national rice acreage, contributes to aromatic rice. Aromatic rice is considered as the best in quality and has a far higher price on the domestic and foreign market than high quality non-aromatic rice. The demand for aromatic rice is growing day by day for internal consumption and also for export. One of the main obstructive yield factors in the development of aromatic rice is weeds. Weeds are primarily affected by yield production, both at the level of the field and at the level of the industry, as they make harvesting and processing difficult. The weeds remaining in the seed bank are more harmful as their dormancy typically breaks in the subsequent cultivation of crops. The weed control failure represents a great loss in the production of aromatic rice. Farmers in Bangladesh, however, use many methods of weed control, including herbicides, which provide substantial increases in the average rice yield. But because herbicides have many dangerous properties for human health, reducing their use has become important. In this respect, different alternatives are being started to practice in the whole world. Agronomic practices are very efficient ways of reducing the use of chemical treatments in weed control. A combination of chemicals and non-chemical methods of weed control in integrated manner is being popular day by day. Because integrated weed control methods provides an efficient reduction of weed population and thereby enhances the yield production.