Rice is one of the most important food crops in the world, and staple for more than half of the global population. Looming water crisis, water-intensive nature of rice cultivation and escalating labour costs drive the search for alternative management methods to increase water productivity in rice cultivation. Direct seeded rice (DSR) has received much attention because of its low-input demand. It involves sowing pre-germinated seed into a puddled soil surface (wet seeding), standing water (water seeding) or dry seeding into a prepared seedbed (dry seeding). Weeds are one of the major constraints in aerobic rice production as they reduce productivity due to competition, allelopathy, by providing habitats for pathogens as well as serving as alternate host for various insects and fungi and increase harvest cost. Studies indicated that crop losses due to weed competition throughout the world as a whole, are greater than those resulting from combined effect of insect pests and diseases. Weeds that grow with the crop deplete considerable amount of plant nutrients, which results in lower crop yields. Nutrient depletion by weeds, besides