Weed management perspectives for India in the changing agriculture scenario in the country

India is the fourth largest economy in the world. Agriculture continues to be the most important sector of Indian economy providing employment and livelihood to nearly 70% of the total population. It has done well all through to feed the growing population. About 2.5 mt of additional food grains are required annually in the next 10 years to meet the demand of the growing population. This is a huge challenge as it has to come from shrinking (both in quality and quantity) land and water resources, adverse climatic and market forces, poor infrastructure, etc. The government is putting lot of thrust on agriculture in its 11th five year plan (2007-12), recognizing that agriculture growth is key to achieve the target of 9.0% growth in total GDP. The government is responding to these challenges by increasing the investment, launching several developmental schemes and providing policy support. Many of the schemes are pro-poor and pro-small holders aimed at achieving inclusive growth. One such scheme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme which guarantees employment/wages to one adult in a household for 100 days in a year, has benefited millions of rural workforce. However, this has also made the labor expensive and unavailable for agricultural operations including weeding. The paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of weed management in the light of changing agricultural scenario in the country