WEED MANAGEMENT IN TRANSPLANTED FINGER MILLET (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn)
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Date
2014
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ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at S.V. Agricultural College Farm, Tirupati campus of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University of Andhra Pradesh, during kharif, 2013, to identify the most economic and viable weed management practice in transplanted finger millet.
The present investigation was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. There were ten treatments viz., pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 (T1), pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 (T2), pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T3), pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T4), pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb post-emergence application of azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 at 20 DAT (T5), pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 fb post-emergence application of azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 at 20 DAT (T6), pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb post-emergence application of chlorimuron-ethyl @ 5 g a.i ha-1 at 20 DAT (T7), pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 fb post-emergence application of chlorimuron-ethyl @ 5 g a.i ha-1 at 20 DAT (T8), hand weeding twice at 20 and 40 DAT (T9) and unweeded check (T10). The test variety of finger millet was Vakula. Weed flora observed in the experimental field consisted of five species of grasses, two species of sedges and seven species of broad leaved weeds.
Among the weed management practices tried, pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T5) resulted in the lowest density and dry weight of total weeds with higher weed control efficiency, which was however comparable with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T3). Pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 was effective for the control of grasses and broad leaved weeds whereas azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT was effective against sedges and broad leaved weeds in transplanted finger millet. Preemergence application of oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 supplemented with hand weeding at 20 DAT (T4) or azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T6) or chlorimuron-ethyl @ 5 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T8) performance was comparable in reducing the density and dry weight of weeds. Pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 (T1) or oxadiargyl @ 75 g a.i ha-1 alone (T2) recorded the higher density and dry weight of total weeds with lesser weed control efficiency. The highest density and dry weight of weeds was associated with unweeded check.
Pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T5) significantly improved the growth parameters viz., plant height, leaf area index, total number of tillers m-2, dry matter production and yield attributes viz., productive tillers m-2, fingers ear-1, ear weight and test weight. All these parameters were comparable with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T3).
The highest grain and straw yields of finger millet were recorded with preemergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha1 applied at 20 DAT (T5), however on par with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T3). The grain yield was reduced by 47 per cent in unweeded check compared to the best weed management practice i.e pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T5).
The highest gross and net returns were realized with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT (T5), which were comparable with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT (T3). However, the highest benefit-cost ratio was registered with the former weed management practice (T5).
In conclusion, the present study revealed that pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb azimsulfuron @ 20 g a.i ha-1 applied at 20 DAT effectively suppressed the broad spectrum of weeds, provided season long weed control and resulted in the highest grain yield and economic returns of transplanted finger millet, which was however comparable with pre-emergence application of oxyflourfen @ 0.1 kg a.i ha-1 fb hand weeding at 20 DAT. The choice of weed management strategy in transplanted finger millet may be based on the time of weeding, availability of labour as well as its economic viability.
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Keywords
economic systems, biological phenomena, humus, marketing, adaptation, participation, manpower, self help, sampling, byproducts, WEED MANAGEMENT, TRANSPLANTED, FINGER MILLET, (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.)