Weeds

Weeds reduce rice yield by competing for space, nutrients, light and water, and by serving as hosts for pests and diseases. Under farmers’
conditions, weed control is not generally done properly or timely, resulting in severe yield reduction. In Asia, losses run up to 11.8 percent of
potential production. Effective weed control requires knowledge of the names, distribution, ecology, and biology of weeds in the rice-growing
regions. One or another form of weed control has been used during the last 10,000 years (De Datta, 1981), but no single weed-control measure
gives continuous and best weed control in all the situations. Various weed control methods including complementary practices, hand weeding,
mechanical weeding, chemical weeding, biological control, and integrated approaches are available (De Datta, 1981). As mentioned earlier,
these methods need to be fine-tuned for specific regions, ecosystems, cropping systems, and economic groups.

COMMON WEEDS AND CONTROL

1. Cyperus iria; Common name: Rice flatsedge and umbrella sedge
Morphology. It is a tufted annual herb, or occasionally perennial, with fibrous roots, 15−75 yellowish red roots; 10−70 cm tall.
Stem: sharply 3 angled, tufted, smooth, 5−80 cm high.
Leaf: basal, rough to touch in upper part, linear, flaccid, with gradually tapering point and 3−8 mm wide; sheath reddish or purplish brown,
enveloping the stem at base.
Inflorescence: simple or compound umbel composed of numerous erect-spreading 3−10 mm long flattened spikelets.
Fruit: three-angled, 1.0−1.5 mm nut with slightly concave sides, and shiny dark brown to black.
Biology and ecology. The weed thrives in wetland rice, dryland annual crops, and plantation crops.
Rice flatsedge or umbrella sedge multiplies rapidly: can produce 3,000−5,000 seeds per plant, seedlings emerge immediately after rice is sown;
flowers month later and can establish second generation in the same season. It flowers throughout the year.
Agricultural importance. An important and widespread weed in South and Southeast Asia.
Ovipositional host of the insects Creatonotus gangis Linnaeus, Leptocorisa acuta (Thunberg), Marasmia exigua (Butler), Mythimna separata
(Walker), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), Nisia carolinensis Fennah, Pseudococcus saccharicola Takahashi, Recilia dorsalis (Motschulsky), Spodoptera
mauritia acronyctoides (Guenee), and Stenchaetothrips biformis (Bagnall), diseases Pyricularia oryzae, Rhizoctonia solani, and Sarocladium
oryzae, and nematodes Circonemella onoensis, Hirschmanniella oryzae, and Pratylenchus indicus.
Management
Cultural control: hand weeding at earlier stage of growth to prevent flowering and seed production; rotary weeding in transplanted rice during
the seedling stage.
Chemical control: Butachlor or oxadiazon after harrowing and sowing of rice and chlorimuron, propanil, or MCPA after emergence.

2. Cyperus difformis; Common name: Small flower umbrella plant

Morphology. The weed is annual, fibrous and reddish roots; up to 100 cm tall.
Stem: tufted, smooth and erect, triangular and 2−3 mm thick; slightly winged.
Leaf: three to 4 basal leaves; sheaths united at base, lower ones straw-colored to brown; blades flaccid and linear, 15−45 cm long.
Inflorescence: umbellate and subtended by two leaf-like bracts; rays 1−5 cm long, some with long peduncle, some without stalk; spikelets
numerous, crowded in masses about 2−5 mm long, each spikelet composed of 10−30 flowers.
Fruit: brownish nut, elliptical to slightly obovate, about 0.6 mm long and lightly pitted.
Biology and ecology. The small flower umbrella plant grows well in flooded or moist fertile soils and common in lowland rice. Also found on
poorer sandy or clay soils in fallow lands but cannot tolerate deep flooding. It has a short life span; propagates by seeds and produces seeds
throughout the year.
Agricultural importance.It produces large quantities of seed and can complete life cycle in about 30 days. A dominant weed in direct-seeded
rice when it occurs in high plant densities; forms dense mats of vegetation in the young crop and can cause rice yield losses of 12−50%. It is an
alternate host of Xanthomonas campestris.
Management
Cultural control: hand and mechanical weeding in row-planted rice plants can provide effective control.
Chemical control: Bentazon, butachlor, 2,4-D, MCPA, pretilachlor, propanil, and thiobencarb reported to be effective.

3. Echinochloa colona; Common name: Jungle rice, awnless barnyard grass

Morphology.A tufted annual grass, up to 60 cm tall.
Stem: reddish purple or green, ascending to erect, without hairs.
Leaf: linear, 10−15 cm long, basal portion often tinged with red; ligule absent.
Inflorescence: simple, ascending racemes, green to purple, about 5−15 cm long; spikelets subsessile 1−3 mm long.
Biology and ecology. Echinochloa colona flowers throughout the year and is propagated by seeds. Seeds have a short dormancy period. It can
be present in large numbers and responsive to nutrients. Prefers moist but unflooded conditions and is a problem mainly in upland and rainfed
lowland rice fields rather than in flooded fields.
Agricultural importance. It closely "mimics" rice in the vegetative growth stage and is a severe competitor of rice.
It is a host of diseases such as tungro and rice yellow dwarf. It can be used as a palatable fodder for milking animals and water buffalo.
Management
Cultural control: flooding; hand weeding or use of a hoe during early growth stages.
Chemical control: preemergence application of oxadiazon or pendimethalin or postemergence application of cyhalofop, butachlor, and
fenoxaprop can be effective.

4. Echinochloa crus-galli; Common name: Common barnyardgrass

Morphology. Annual, erect, tufted or reclining at base; up to 200 cm tall.
Stem: culms rooting at lower nodes, cylindrical, without hairs, and filled with white spongy pith.
Leaf: linear with a broad round base and narrow top; blade 10−40 cm long; ligule absent.
Inflorescence: loose green to purplish, 10−25 cm long comprising compound racemes; spikelets more or less elliptical and pointed, usually
slightly hairy; awns, if present, green to purplish, 2−5 mm long.
Biology and ecology. The common barnyard gas ropagates by seed. It flowers throughout the year and can produce seeds within 60 days.
Echinochloa crus-galli prefers moist to wet land; easily grows in direct-seeded rice fields and wastelands. It is a common weed in swamps and
aquatic places.
Agricultural importance. It is a serious serious weed of lowland rice due to its rapid growth, competitive ability, and capacity to multiply
rapidly. The young shoots are eaten in Java and it is used for reclaiming saline lands in Egypt. The weed serves as feed for animals in grasslands
and wastelands.
Management
Cultural control: Thorough land preparation for rice under wet or dry conditions can reduce infestations.It is difficult to distinguish the weed
seedlings from rice at early stages, which makes hand weeding difficult.
Biological control: the fungal pathogen Exserohilum monoceras shown to control this weed.
Chemical control: Oxadiazon, pretilachlor, pendimethalin or cyhalofop, thiobencarb, butachlor, and propanil mixtures with quinclorac or
fenoxaprop.

5. Eclipta prostrate; Common name: False daisy

Morphology. A prostrate or reclining to erect, often branched, annual or perennial herb, 30−100 cm tall.
Stem: cylindrical, green or purplish, rooting at basal nodes, and often covered with long white hairs.
Leaf: oblong to lance-shaped, opposite, sessile or short-stalked, with more or less coarse hairs; margins entire or slightly toothed, up to 2−16
cm long.
Inflorescence: terminal and axillary, about 1 cm across, white or cream, on peduncles to 7 cm long.
Fruit: achene, densely warted, either brown or black, 2−3 mm long.
Biology and ecology. It is widespread and has adapted to a range of environments. It is found in poorly drained wet areas, saline conditions,
along streams, in drains and canals of irrigated lowland rice paddies, in waste areas, and in upland fields.
A single plant can produce as many as 17,000 seeds; germination affected by light, moisture level, pH, and temperature, but seeds have no
dormancy.
Agricultural importance. It is a common weed of rainfed lowland rice in the Philippines, Indonesia, and India, and other crops, including
sugarcane, flax, taro, papaya, banana, soybean, vegetables, and cotton.
Eclipta prostrata is an alternate host of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.).
Management
Cultural control: cultivation and hand weeding.
Chemical control: preemergence application of oxadiazon or postemergence spraying of either 2,4-D or MCPA reported to be effective.

6. Fimbristylis miliacea; Common name: Lesser fimbristylis, grasslike fimbristylis, and hoorahgrass
Morphology. Annual or perennial, without hairs, strongly tillering, with fibrous roots and up to 80−90 cm high.
Stem: slender, erect, densely tufted, compressed, and smooth; strongly angled at the top and flattened at the base; 20−70 cm tall.
Leaf: stiff and thread-like; on flowerless stems: in 2 rows and with flattened sheaths; no prominent midribs; on flowering stems: only linear leaf
sheaths; basal leaves have overlapping leaf sheaths; ligule absent.
Inflorescence: 6−10 cm long, compound umbel with 6−50 spikelets; spikelets reddish brown, 2−4 mm long and either round or acute at apex.
Fruit: straw-colored or pale ivory nut, 0.2−0.3 mm long.
Biology and ecology. Propagates by seeds; flowers year-round and produces 10,000 seeds per plant; seeds can germinate immediately after
reaching maturity. In rice fields, seedlings appear soon after rice is sown; flowers in about one month and capable of producing a second
generation in the same season. Germinates where flood water is shallow or absent and seedlings may emerge throughout the entire growing
period of rice.
Agricultural importance. It is a serious and widespread weed of rice.
An alternate host of diseases Rhizoctonia solani, Thanatephorus cucumeris, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae, insects Creatonotus
gangis Linnaeus, Leptocorisa acuta (Thunberg), and Mythimna separata (Walker), and nematodes Hirschmanniella sp. and Meloidogyne spp.
Management
Cultural control: hand cultivation.
Chemical control: postemergence application of MCPA and 2,4-D reported to be effective in rice.

7. Ischaemum rugosum Salisb.; Common name: Wrinkle duck beak, saromacca grass
Morphology. An erect or ascending annual or perennial; up to 100 cm tall.
Stem: often purplish, usually has hairs at nodes, cylindrical.
Leaf: blades 10−30 cm long, glabrous or with scattered hairs on both surfaces; compressed sheaths rather loose and green or purplish, with
hairs on margins; ligule membranous and fused with auricles.
Inflorescence: paired terminal spikes that are often strongly pressed against one another, thus appearing like a single spike. At maturity, it
separates into two spike-like racemes. Spikelets paired, one is sessile, the other pedicelled; sessile spikelet yellowish green, up to 6 mm long,
first glume prominently transversely wrinkled; awns spiral at base, dark colored.
Biology and ecology. Propagates by seeds. Seeds do not germinate while submerged though, after emergence, they can grow easily under
flooded conditions.
Ischaemum rugosum is found in wet conditions, especially in direct-seeded rice fields.
Agricultural importance. Ischaemum rugosum is a serious weed in lowland direct-seeded rice, where it emerges later than many weeds in the
crop and is favored by shallow flooding.
Also an alternate host of Chaetocnema basalis (Baly), Cicadulina bipunctata (Melichar), Hysteroneura setariae (Thomas), Leptocorisa acuta
(Thunberg), Nisia carolinensis Fennah, Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason), Pseudococcus saccharicola Takahashi, Sesamia inferens (Walker), and
Tetraneura nigriabdominalis (Sasaki), and diseases caused by tungro virus. It is also a host of the nematode Meloidogyne sp. Ischaemum
rugosum is used as feed for animals. It also provides suitable material for mulch and compost.
Management
Cultural control: hand weeding or hoeing.
Chemical control: Butachlor, thiobencarb, pendimethalin, or mixtures of thiobencarb or butachlor and propanil, cyhalofop, and fenoxaprop can
give effective control. Molinate is not effective in controlling I. rugosum.

8. Leptochloa chinensis; Common name: Red sprangletop

Morphology. tufted and smooth annual or perennial; up to 120 cm tall.
Stem: slender, hollow, erect or ascending from a branching base, rooting at lower nodes, smooth and without hair, typically 10−20 nodes, and
can reach as high as 50−100 cm.
Leaf: smooth, linear, 10−30 cm long; ligule an inconspicuous membrane 1−2 mm long and deeply divided into hairlike segments.
Inflorescence: narrowly ovate, loose panicle, main axis 10−40 cm long, and with many spike-like slender branches; racemes slender, each with
two rows of spikelets, spikelets 2−3.2 mm long, purplish or green and 4−6 flowered.
Biology and ecology. Red sprangletop propagates by seeds or vegetatively by rootstocks. Germination does not occur when seeds are
submerged in water.
Agricultural importance. Leptochola chinensis is a serious weed of rice. Its ability to withstand waterlogged conditions as well as drained, moist
conditions makes it a problem weed in rice.
The weed is an alternate host of Cicadulina bipunctata (Melichar), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee), Creatonotus gangis Linnaeus, Marasmia
spp., Nephotettix spp., Peregrinus maidis (Ashmead), Pseudococcus saccharicola Takahashi, Spodoptera mauritia acronyctoides (Guenee), and
nematodes such as Hirschmanniella sp. and Meloidogyne sp. It is also an alternate host of diseases caused by Ephelis oryzae, Pyricularia oryzae,
and Rhizoctonia solani. Leptochola chinensis is used as feed for animals. Its grains serve as a famine food in East Africa.
Management
Cultural control: rotovating and puddling of rice fields during land preparation; hand weeding can be effective during the early growth stages
of the weed.
Chemical control: Quinclorac, propanil, pendimethalin, fenoxaprop, pretilachlor, or benthiocarb.

9. Ludwigia hyssopifolia; Common name: Seedbox, linear leaf water primrose

Morphology. An erect annual herb, 15−150 cm tall and minutely hairy during early stage of growth.
Stem: often 3-4 angled, green or purplish, and with white spongy pneumatophores arising from submerged roots.
Leaf: lance-shaped, petioled, and up to 9 cm long.
Inflorescence: solitary flowers, borne at axils of leaves; 4 yellow petals, elliptic, up to 3 mm long.
Fruit: finely hairy, almost cylindrical, 1.75−2.5 cm long capsule.
Biology and ecology. Widespread, growing in wet places, shallow pools and ditches, margins of canals and in lowland rice fields.
Can produce approximately 250,000 seeds per plant; seeds released gradually and they remain floating in water up to 16 days before they sink.
Seeds do not germinate under submerged conditions or when buried in soil. Seeds germinate in temperatures of 10−40ºC.
Agricultural importance. Can be a serious rice weed on both clay-loam and clay soils; in lowland rice fields.
Management
Cultural: hand weeding and tillage are common means of controlling this weed in rice.
Chemical control: MCPA and 2,4-D as postemergence treatments and also quinclorac + bensulfuron or molinate + 2,4-D.

10. Oryza sativa; Common name: Red rice, weedy rice

Morphology. A variable, erect, stout or slender annual rice with varying height and form.
Stem: tufted, erect, hollow and slender or stout, smooth and hairless, 80−120 cm tall.
Leaf: blade flat with parallel veins, 15−30 cm long; ligule and auricle present; ligule usually 10−20 mm long.
Inflorescence: an erect or nodding loose panicle, spikelet about 7 mm long, flat, one-flowered, with or without awns of varying length.
Biology and ecology. Weedy rice is highly variable and thought to originate from outcrosses to wild species (O. nivara, O. rufipogon) or as a
result of outcrossing within domestic rice. It is distinguished by the key weedy traits of ready panicle shattering and variable secondary
dormancy. It is highly adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, dry land to deepwater culture. It commonly possesses red
pericarp, which requires additional milling, thereby reducing the quality of milled rice.
Agricultural importance. Weedy rice is a major weed in direct-seeded rice. It reduces rice yields and is an alternate host of rice insects,
diseases, and nematodes. Often spread by contaminated rice seeds.
Management
Cultural control: the use of crop seed free from wild rice, crop rotation, soil puddling, hand weeding of initial infestations, and water
management are possible components of an integrated approach to control weedy rice. Established infestations will need to be addressed
through the use of stale seedbeds or water seeding or transplanting.
Chemical control: the application of glyphosate before land preparation or seeding reported to be effective.

11. Schoenoplectus juncoides; Common name: Sedge

Biology and ecology. Found in lowland rice, shallow ponds, streams, and drains.
Emerges directly from seeds in puddled rice fields; in swampy areas where tillage is minimal, seedlings emerge from vegetative buds. Seed
germination increases under anaerobic conditions. In competition with rice, about 1,500 seeds are produced per plant.
Agricultural importance. Can be a major weed in lowland rice fields.
Management
Cultural: dry rotovation and wet puddling can reduce populations.
Chemical: Pretilachlor, butachlor, thiobencarb, and sulfonylureas are reported to be effective in rice.

12. Sphenoclea zeylanica; Common name: Gooseweed

Morphology. An erect, branched herb, 7−150 cm tall.
Leaf: simple and spirally arranged light green; blades oblong to lance-shaped, narrowed at the tip, 10 cm long, borne on short stalks.
Inflorescence: green, cylindrical, 7.5 cm long and dense terminal spike; flowers densely crowded, white to greenish, sessile.
Fruit: a flat, 4−5 mm diameter globular capsule.
Seed: yellowish brown, 0.5 mm long.
Agricultural importance. Reported to cause yield loss of 25−50% in rice. Young plants and tips of older plants are steamed and eaten as a
vegetable in Indonesia.
Management
Cultural control: closed crop canopy limits germination and growth of the weed.
Chemical control: Anilofos, bensulfuron, cinosulfuron, chlorimuron, metsulfuron, prazosulfuron, thiobencarb, oxadiazon, piperophos, and
propanil are reported to be effective.

ref: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/weed-management/the-dirty-dozen-of-weeds

Title Year Author or Source Highlights

Weed management - IRRI www.knowledgebank.irri.org/
Rice Knowledge Bank step-by-step-
production/growth/weed-
management
Chemical weed control http://www.knowledgebank.ir
ri.org/index.php?option=com
How to control weeds. ... Weed management should
be practiced during specific stages of rice production:
... Control of weeds during land preparation is crucial
to reduce the amount of weed pressure in the field.
In chemical weed control, chemicals called herbicides
are used to kill certain plants or inhibit their growth.
Chemical weed control is an option in integrated weed

Chapter II. Major weed
problems in rice -
red/weedy rice and the
Echinochloa complex
Practical field guide to
weeds of rice in Asia, A
(English) 2nd edition
Weed biodiversity and rice
production during the
irrigation rehabilitation
process in Cambodia
Weed Management in rice
Crop traits related to weed
suppression in water-
seeded rice (Oryza sativa L)
Gene Flow Between Red
Rice (Oryza sativa) and
Herbicide-Resistant Rice (O.
sativa): Implications for
Weed Management1
_zoo&view=item&layout=ite
m&Itemid=710
R. Labrada
http://www.fao.org/docrep/0
05/Y4347E/y4347e03.htm
B.P. Caton, M. Mortimer, J.E.
Hill, D.E. Johnson
2014 Akihiko Kamoshita, , Yuji
Araki1, Yen T.B. Nguyen2
2009 naipictuasdharwad
2003 KD Gibson, AJ Fischer, TC Foin,
JE Hill
2003 DR Gealy, DH Mitten, JN
Rutger
management that refers to the integrated use of
cultural, manual, mechanical and/or chemical control
methods.
Weeds are at present the major biotic constraint to
increased rice production worldwide. The importance
of their control has been emphasized in the past by
various authors (De Datta and Baltazar, 1996;
Labrada,1996; Ze-Pu Zhang, 1996). Chemical weed
control has increased significantly over the past ten
years.
Weed infestations are a concern for every farmer.
Depending on the type of rice production system,
farmers across Asia often contend with the same or
similar weed species. This group of species is relatively
small, but of great importance, and includes many of
the “world’s worst weeds.”
Weeds species differed between shallow upstream and
deep downstream paddy fields.
•
Low production intensity and heterogeneous water
conditions fostered high weed biodiversity.
•
There was no trade-off between rice yield and weed
biodiversity.
•
Farmers used plants from paddy ecosystem for human
consumption and forage.
I. Effect of weeds on rice
II. Types of weeds found in rice
III. Critical period of crop weed competition
IV. Methods of weed control
their herbicide rates and lessen their near-exclusive
reliance on herbicides for weed control.
Variation among cultivars in their ability to compete
with weeds has been documented for ...
contribute to competitive ability and determine
whether rice yields under weed-free conditions ...
may allow fields to be leveled without flooding and red
rice and other weeds to be ... One of the
most effective strategies to prevent and contain
herbicide-resistant weed populations is ... practices
developed for specific regions are keys for successful
management and control of red