**2.9 Intercultural operations**

Weeds are an important problem in cumin cultivation as they compete with the crop for resources while contaminating the seed. So, in order to achieve a robust growth of the crop weed management should be done at appropriate times. First weeding and hoeing should be done when the crop has attained 4–5 cm height which happens at 30–40 days after sowing. To keep the crop free of weeds and to break the soil crust,

another 2–3 weedings are needed. Some of the common weeds infesting cumin fields are zeeri (*Plantago pumila*), piazi (*Asphodellus tenifolius*), bathua (*Chenopodium album*), pili sanjee (*Melilotus indica*), khartua (*Chenopodium murale*) [17]. Among these weeds, zeeri is of serious concern as it bears close resemblance to cumin plant, and can easily become a contaminant thus reducing its crop's market value [18]. Pre-emergence application of Fluchloralin (0.77–1.00 kg) or Basalin (2.5 kg) or Stamp F-34 (3.33 kg) per hectare can be done. Besides this, pre-emergence application of Oxidiagal @75 g ha<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup> has been found to yield very effective results for weed control at NRCSS, Ajmer.
