WEED IN THE WHEAT FIELD..SUGANDHAVASTAK

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Sugandhavastak, more popular as Bathu ka sag in Hindi is actually a weed in wheat field. It is popular green leafy vegetable in North India and has amazing medicinal and nutritional virtues. The article written by me on this plant is attached. Modern agriculture is trying to remove the weeds and I appeal such useful weeds must not go extinct. We must popularize its applications.

[Nagasrinivasa Rao Naladala]

Good one sir, because of present day fast lifestyle we are loosing many healthy and tasty food items like Bathu ka sag, some plants (in Telugu) payalaku, munga aaku, barrepaku etc. generally these leafy plants grow in paddy fields just on the bunds of the field but munaga aaku is exceptional.   

[Dr. V. K. Garg]

Dear Dr.  Ghosh

I have read your article and my views are given below:

This is a very troublesome weed in wheat crop in Northern India. The scientific name of this weed is Chenopodium Alba (This species is widely used as food item),.....there is one more species and its name is Chenopidium Murale....But since green revolution, due to change in the nature of agronomic practices (mainly irrigation) now Phalaris minor is most common weed. 2,4-D is the weedicide used to cChenopodium Alba. One single plant can produce more than one lakh ( 100000) seeds and this plant has caused a lot damage to farmers in past. Due to very high seed production and dispersal this plant is not in the danger of extinction.

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Its useful properties are also known. We may discard it as weed but can be grown as food and vegetable since it is fast growing instead of spraing weedicides to poison entire population.

[Dr. V. K. Garg]

The point is we need wheat or this weed???

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

We need wheat free from chemical poison and leafy vegetable good for health

[Nagasrinivasa Rao Naladala]

can't we grow both as in the case of row cropping pattern? if there is demand and healthy values for both what wrong n growing them both simultaneously?

Agricultural engineers like me will work out the water, fertilizer requirement and mode of supply for better productivity.

 

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

We must grow both...we must not reject useful plants and promote chemical poisons in our food chain

[Dr. V. K. Garg]

The idea of growing Chenopodium  ( a weed) is funny... This is a weed ... if u grow this weed....what will u do of seed dispersal...one plant produce more than 100000 seeds..once this plant is grown in any field,,,,,there will be big seed reservoir of this weed and for years and years...we will not able to grow any thing in that field.....once upon a time ( 1970s) this weed was most dangerous and in wheat growing belt of India... this weed had threatened wheat production...another important thing.....some people are taking about chemicals.....u must know there is some half life of the 2,4-D used to control this weed.....and a number of studies are available and none of them has reported the presence of 2,4-D in wheat grains.

Yes..this weed has some good nutritional characters....but We can not eat this weed each day....and the quantity need by man is always available.....

This is a very hard plant...can grow in all kind of climatic conditions......

so please do not talk about its cultivation..

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Idea of destroying useful medicinal plant is funny..please do not talk about destroying such useful plant to invite disease

[Nagasrinivasa Rao Naladala]

Dear Dr.V.K.Garg sir,  I think weed is any plant other than the main crop plant, for example if i am cultivating paddy, unfortunately any maize or jowar (not exactly)  plants are there in the field, we call them other than paddy plants as weeds.

 as you told like there were number of unreported studies on this weed (so called) and 2,4-D etc...

if it is true I can say that our so called elders were innocent, they used 2,4-D to control this plant. Do you think the seed (100000 seeds per plant ) is a problem? can't we overcome this problem by cutting the plant in its early stages?, like in case of all leafy vegetables, generally we can observe this; most of leafy vegetables are soled at their early stage.

by this we can avoid the problem of so called seed (100000 seeds per plant ), of course it will not be a problem then. 

[Nagasrinivasa Rao Naladala]

most of the drugs which we identified and still need to identify are weeds only,

may be do you know are not, the plant which gives fragrance to Coffee powder is also a weed, just you can search for its name.

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Brahmi, Manduk parni and many other useful medicinal plants are weeds..it is funny if we destroy them to make world free from medicines for human sufferings.