Aerobic rice production is a newly evolved concept used to obtain higher yields with less water, with a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Aerobic rice without standing water has a higher density of weeds compared to the conventional method, posing a stronger threat for crop growth, yield and sustainability. Among the different weed management practices, herbicides had gained wider acceptance as they ensure better weed control and lesser labour work and even reduce the cost of cultivation significantly compared to other methods. However, the herbicide residues left in the field had a significant negative impact on the succeeding crop, soil microbiota and overall surrounding environment. Integrated weed management practices, including hand weeding (HW) and mechanical weeding (MW), along with herbicides, were tested for effective weed control and herbicide residues in aerobic rice. Pre-emergent (PE) herbicide pyrazosulfuron ethyl and early post-emergent herbicide (EPoE) bispyribac sodium were combined with HW and MW methods and evaluated against the common practices of using only HW, MW or weedy check. Among the nine treatments, PE pyrazosulfuron ethyl (at 3 DAS) fb EPoE bispyribac sodium (at 12 DAS) fb one round of MW (at 45 DAS) led to a higher weed control efficiency (WCE) of 91.19% and grain yield of 3544 kg ha^-1, which increased the net returns to INR 29,244 ha^-1. Additionally, the integration of HW and MW methods increased herbicide degradation in all the plots with herbicide applied, thus reducing their levels below the detectable limit in soil, at 30 DAS, except pendimethalin (0.11 mg kg^-1). However, even with reduced retention periods, the integration of different methods was found to be successful in controlling weed issues, especially during the critical crop–weed competition period. Therefore, this method ensured a competition-free environment for aerobic rice growth. Overall, the integration of weed management practices could reduce the dependency on labour and the chemical load on the ecosystem and simultaneously enhance WCE, making aerobic rice cultivation an eco-friendly and sustainable approach.