Comparison of Mechanical and Chemical Weed Control on Two Different Agroecosystems as an Effort to Reduce Invasive Species on Agricultural Land

• Main Author: CLARISSA RAHMANITA IDAT (NIM: 10614010), RADEN
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/30087
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

<p align="justify"> Invasive species are commonly found in agroecosystem as weed. Weed found in agroecosystem are usually controlled due to their trait that could reduce agricultural productivity. Mechanical and chemical weed controls are the most common method used in Indonesia. However, the lack of field research on the mechanical and chemical weed control making both controls ineffective. This study was conducted to see the effectiveness of each weed control observed. The observation was held at an organic agroecosystem (SO) with main crop Lactuca sativa and a conventional agroecosystem (KN) with main crop Brassica juncea. Weed found in SO are controlled mechanically every 1-2 days, while weed found in KN are controlled chemically using Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl 0,1 kg/ha on the 10th day. The species richness from one cultivation period are noted on both agroecosystem every three days using 10 randomly placed 1x1m2 quadrat plot. Weed from 31 species (16 families) are found on the two agroecosystem. SO was mostly invested by Oxalis intermedia (IVI 44%) and Cyperus rotundus (IVI 17,2%) weed, while weed found on KN was dominated by Portulaca oleracea (IVI 83,7%) and Amaranthus blitum (IVI 18,5%). SO has higher diversity (24 species, Shannon-Wiener diversity index H’=2,62) compared to KN (18 species, H’=1,61). The dynamics of species richness found on both agroecosystem was hypothetically caused by weed control. The most significant weed species richness reduction found was on KN (20%) on the 15th day compared to SO (10,5%), which was followed by an increasing species richness (16,7%) on the harvest day compared to SO (5%). High species richness found in SO was allegedly caused by the mechanical method’s ineffectiveness in terminating weed’s ability to reproduce vegetative and generatively. Thus, mechanical and chemical weed controls are considered ineffective on reducing invasive species found in agroecosystem. <p align="justify">