Challenges of Herbicide Resistant Weeds in Wheat in India and its Management: A Review.

Agriculture is an important part of the India's economy. India ranks first in net cropland area in the world with 179.8 mha which is 9.6% of global net cropland area and India's agriculture sector makes up 16% of the country's economy, while accounting for 49% of employment (FAOSTAT, 2020). The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is extensive in the subtropical areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India while maize-wheat is widespread in tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate regions. In north India, rice is grown in the summer season (June/July to September/October) whereas wheat is grown in the winter season (October/November to February/March). The area under wheat in India was 30.59 mha with an annual production of 99.78 mt and average productivity of 3.22 t ha-1 (Anonymous, 2019). The weeds are accounting as a major factor in yield reduction of wheat. The mechanical weed control is not so much effective in controlling weeds in wheat because of narrow inter row spacing. Further, the manual weeding is not much feasible because of mimicry weeds like Phalaris minor which are very much similar to wheat during initial stages. Therefore, the role of herbicides cannot be neglected. But the continuous application of herbicides with same mode of action year by year has resulted in evolution of herbicide resistance in weed species. The management of herbicide resistant weeds in crop production is a major challenge. This review mainly focuses on the current status of herbicide resistant weeds in India associated with wheat along with their management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]