Response of various weed management practices on growth and yield of mustard (Brassica juncea L.)

Introduction

Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) is considered as the second most vital oilseed crop in India, after groundnut, out of seven edible oilseeds. The seeds are used as a condiment. Young mustard plant leaves are commonly utilized as green veggies. provides sulphur and minerals in the diet (Yernaidu et al., 2022) [2] . In India, mustard covers an area of 6.8mha with an average production of 9.1 million tonnes and average yield of 1.34 t/ha (chishi et al., 2021) [1] . Rapeseed mustard is grown on 145.36 thousand hectares in Odisha, producing 61.63 thousand tonnes and yielding 424kg/ha (Odisha AGRISTAT 2013-14), which is significantly less than the national average. (Mandi et al., 2020) [3] . The oil content of mustard and rapeseed varies between 37 and 49%. The oil and seed are used as seasonings in the preparation of vegetables, curries, and pickles, as well as hair oil, in medications, and in the manufacture of grease. Mustard oil cake is regarded as the best animal feed and organic manure (Patel et al., 2020) [4] . Weeds have a devastating effect on crop output, producing yield failure in mustard that can range from 15 to 30 percent. Weeds fight for water, space, light, and nutrients with crop plants. In addition to reducing produce quality and posing different health and environmental problems, it reduces seed output by 35-60% or more, depending on the weed population, types of weed and time duration of infestations (Singh et al., 2024) [5] . In Indian mustard crop-weed competition is more significant mostly in its seedling stages because crop growth during the winter season is slow for the initial 4-6 (WAS) weeks after sowing. However, at later stages, it grows strongly and suppresses weeds (Saranya et al., 2022) [6] .

Materials and Methods

During the Rabi season of 2022, a field experiment was carried out on the "response of weed control practices on growth parameters and yield attributes of mustard (Brassica juncea L.) in instructional farm-I, School of Agriculture, GIET University, "Gunupur."

The soil at the experimental site was sandy loam with a texture of 6.4 pH, 5.2% organic carbon, 120 kg/ha available nitrogen, 6.5 kg/ha phosphorus and 108.5 kg/ha potassium. Three replications with eight treatments each were used in the experiment's randomised block design layout. T1: Pendimethalin 30EC @0.75 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS; T2: Oxyfluorfen [email protected] kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS; T3: Quizalofop-p-ethyl 10%EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 15-20DAS; T4: Pendimethalin 30EC @0.75 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + oneHW at 40DAS; T5: Oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS; T6: Quizalofop-p-ethyl 10%EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 15-20DAS + one HW at 40 DAS T7: Weed free; T8: Weedy check. The depth of sowing was 3-4 cm and with a row -row spacing of 40 cm and plant-plant maintained 10 cm on 17 th October, 2022. The fertilizers were applied in accordance with the required dose of 70:50:50 kg of N, P2O5, and K2O per ha. Weed density and dry weight were recorded and normalized using the square root transformation (√𝑥+5). Yield and yield attributes were recorded when the crop was harvested. Crop was harvested on February 2, 2023. Gross returns were determined using mustard seed yield and market price at time of marketing. The net returns per ha were determined by subtracting the cultivation cost per ha from the gross returns per ha. The (B:C ratio) benefit cost ratio was estimated by using the following formula.

Results and Discussion

Effect on growth Treatment T5 (oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @ 0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS) resulted in significantly higher plant height (174.27 cm), maximum number of branches per plant (17.14) andplant dry weight of 4210 kg ha -1 , number of leaves plant -1 (24.43) and LAI which was at par with T 1 , T 4 and T 3 and the lowest was recorded with weedy check (T 8 ). Well crop growth might be due to comparatively competition-free conditions, which increase nutrient availability, light interception, soil moisture efficiency and space under reduced inter-plant competition. These factors ultimately lead to higher carbohydrate synthesis and the production of more dry matter accumulation per plant. Among all the herbicidal treatments oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @ 0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS (T5) recorded with the greater number of siliqua plant -1 (108.33), seeds siliqua -1 (14.23) which was statistically at par with T2, T4 and maximum test weight (4.20 g). and the lowest value was recorded from un weeded control plot. Besides herbicidal treatments, T7 (i.e weed free) recorded with highest seed yield (1212 kg ha -1 ) and stover yield (3094 kg ha -1 ). Among various herbicidal treatments T5 (oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @ 0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS) reported with highest seed yield (1156 kg ha -1 ), stover yield (3061 kg ha -1 ) and harvest index (27.4%) which might be due to improved growth parameters such as height of plant, number of branches per plant and plant dry weight, leading to higher yields and less competition. and the lowest yield was recorded with un weeded control or weedy check. Chatterjee and Singh (2018) [8] reported the same results. The highest gross and net returns were achieved with oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS (T5) which was followed by pendimethalin 30EC @0.75 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS (T4) (Table 2) and oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS resulted in a greater B:C ratio due to the increased expense of cultivation and hand weeding. The pre-emergence application of oxyfluorfen 23.5EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS proved effective against weeds as it recorded highest seed yield of 1156 kg ha -1 and stover yield of 3061 kg ha -1 .

Conclusion

It was concluded that among all the herbicidal treatments, application of oxyfluorfen 23.5 EC @0.05 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS (T 5 ) was recorded with the higher growth parameters, yield attributes and yield, which was followed by T 4: Pendimethalin 30EC @0.75 kg a.i/ha at 0-2DAS + one HW at 40DAS.

References

1. Chishi HM, Zhimo K, Khiamn M, Zhimomi A. Integrated weed management in mustard. Int J Weed Sci. 2021;53(3):310-312.
2. Yernaidu Y, Parameswari YS, Madhavi M, Prakash TR. Influence of weed management practices on growth and yield attributes of mustard. Int J Weed Sci. 2022;52(2):20810.
3. Mandi SK, Paramaguru S, Toppo R, Das DM. Productivity enhancement of Toria through frontline demonstration in Gajapati district of Odisha, India. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2020;9(5):1548-1554.
4. Patel K, Pandey TD, Sahu M, Bhagat M. To study the effect of herbicide on growth, yield attributes and yield of the mustard crop in Chhattisgarh plain. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2020;9(10):1470-1476.
5. Singh S, Yadav RA, Prajapati SK, Kumar P, Gangwar P, Sachan P, Khan N. Effect of different doses of herbicides on growth and yield in maize (Zea mays L.). J Exp Agric Int. 2024;46(5):494-499.
6. Saranya S, Sathyanarayana E, Tripathi A, Singh S, Bharghavi J, Rajashekhar M, et al. Effect of different pre and post-emergent application of herbicides on the growth and yield of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.). The Pharma Innovation J. 2022;11(1):955-7.
7. Singh T, Dahiya KS, Sidhu MS. Effect of genotype, seedling age and row spacing on performance of transplanted African mustard (Brassica carinata) under late-sown conditions. Indian J Agron. 2006;51(3):221-224.
8. Chatterjee N, Singh RK. Response of Indian mustard to sulphur levels and weed management in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Agric Res J. 2018;55(1):159-161.