As a part of study tour, a group of B. Sc. Environmental Science students (1st, 2nd and 3rd year) along with their two professor from Govt. Science College, Jabalpur visited ICAR-Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur on 22nd February, 2021. At the directorate they were guided by scientists, beginning from the technology park, followed by aquatic weed ponds, weed cafeteria, agricultural fields, phytoremediation unit, composting unit, FACE facility, OTC chambers, Lysimeter unit, and later on to the information centre and laboratories, the students were briefly informed about the research activities being carried out at the directorate.

An exposure about important weeds of field crops was given to them especially about Parthenium, Phalaris Minor and AvenaFatua. They were detailed about the phytoremediation unit’s working principle and how different weeds can be effectively utilized for treatment of polluted water. Being from environmental science discipline, the students took keen interest in the conservation agricultural practices being deployed at the directorate. Importance of conservation agriculture and its role in minimizing residue burning and greenhouse gas emission (GHGs) especially CH4 and N2O emission from crop field were highlighted. They were excited to see the FACE facility and OTC chamber setups and were curious about their application in studying the climate change attributes.

They were also taken to the composting unit and were explained about its working and advantages. Coming to the Information centre, they were acquainted about the major areas of research undertaken at directorate, its history, and weed management practices including different cultural, mechanical, chemical and biological methods. Lastly the students visited different laboratories and taught about various instruments, their principles and applications. They were happy to gain knowledge about new instruments especially PCR machine, spectrophotometer, flame photometer, kjeldahl apparatus, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, microwave digestion system, gas chromatography system, etc. The entire visit was interactive with many queries from the students and a wonderful study tour from their perspective to expand their know-how about weeds, their management practices, conservation agriculture and climate resilient agriculture.