Growth and development of summer green gram (Vigna radiate) as influenced by planting patterns and weed control methods

Introduction

Green gram (Vigna radiate) is a warm season legume that is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of India. It is valuable source of proteins, vitamins, and minerals and it also plays an important role in nitrogen fixation, which improves the soil fertility. The growth and development of green gram is influenced by a variety of environmental factors, including temperature, light, water and nutrients (Chaudhary et al. 2018) [1] . Nutritive value of greengram is very high as it contains 24.3% protein, 124 mg/100 g calcium, 1.3% fat, 326 mg/100 g phosphorus, 3.5% minerals, 7.3 mg/100 gm iron, 4.1% fiber, 56% carbohydrate, 10% moisture with calorific value of 334 kcal/100 gm (Hirani et al. 2024) [2] . Shriram Osari et al. (2019) [10] observed that in green gram, productivity was reduced upto 56.7 percent due to weeds. Yield loss due to grasses and sedges combination was 46.05%, yield loss due to broad leaves and sedges was 24.46% and yield loss due to broad leaves and grasses was 45.21% (Udhaya et al. 2023) [14] . It shows when grasses are present alone or with other weeds, there is a cumulative effect which reduces the crop yield significantly. Yield losses in greengram due to weed interference varied between 74 and 92% depend on the prevailing conditions. Nutrient (N, P and K) losses due to crop weed competition were 38.8, 9.2 and 23.3 kg ha -1 respectively (Kumara et al. 2021) [5] . Mechanical control is traditional method of weed control which is most popular method for controlling weeds in mung bean. One to two weedings depending upon weed intensity should be given to keep the crop free from harmful weeds. First weeding should be done 15-20 DAS and second 30-35 DAS depending upon weed density and climatic conditions (Suryavanshi et al. 2018) [13] . However, timely and adequate amount of labour is not available and also this method is sometimes not practically possible due to continuous rains. Weeds can be controlled with chemical, cultural, biological, integrated weed control methods (Udhaya et al. 2023) [14] . Chemical weed control is efficient, economical and sure as compared to other methods. Mechanical weed control is mainly associated with tillage, hand hoeing, mowing interculture etc. In organic farming, a 1-2-year period of grass-clover or alfalfa in the crop rotation is more or less required to suppress weeds including perennials such as Cirsium arvense (Indra et al. 2024) [3] . The major method of green gram sowing is still broadcasting, which is considered as the major yield and growth-limiting factor in this crop. For higher production line sowing in rows of green gram is documented as the best strategy. Raised bed planting method in green gram efficiently reduces weed population and maximizes weed control efficiency (Hirani et al. 2024) [2] . Bed planting is very safe technique for crop cultivation especially under heavy textured soils and with rainfall areas. Bed planting method results in 25-30 percent saving in irrigation water. Other than bed sowing, cross sowing is also followed in the green gram for optimum yield (Indra et al. 2024) [3] . Growth attributes such as plant height, dry matter accumulation and number of branches per plant and yield attributes like pods/plant, seeds/plant, stover and seed yield are significantly affected by different planting patterns (Singh et al. 2020) [11] . The present study evaluated the growth and yield of summer green gram crop as influenced by planting patterns and weed control methods.

Materials and Methods

The field experiment on summer green gram variety SML1827 was conducted on research farm of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab during Summer 2024. The trial was conducted on clay loan soil with pH 7.0 and available nitrogen content was 376 kg/ha. The trial was conducted in SPD (Split Plot Design) with four planting techniques in main plots and four weed competition treatments in sub plots with 4 replications. The 4 planting patterns i.e., M 1 -Flat sowing, M 2 -Bed sowing (three rows/bed of 67.5 cm), M 3 -Ridge sowing (two rows on slope of ridge), M 4 -Ridge sowing (two rows per ridge -one on top and one in furrow) were kept in main plots and 4 weed control treatment i.e., T 1 -pendimethalin 30EC 0.75 kg/ha, T 2 -pendimethalin 30EC 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulching, T 3 -One hand weeding (20 DAS), T 4 -Unweeded (control) were retained in sub plots. The field was prepared with discing (one) and cultivators (twice) and sowing was done with kera method on 19 March 2024. The sub plot size was 5m × 2.2m. The size of the bed was 67.5 cm with bed top 37.5 cm and furrow 30cm. Ridges were prepared at spacing of 45 cm. The spray of pendimethalin was done as pre-emergence on same day of sowing. The full dose of N was applied at sowing. The 1 st irrigation was applied after 10 days after sowing (DAS) and subsequent irrigations were applied depending upon the climatic conditions and nature of soil. The spray of Imidacloprid 17.8& SL @ 30 ml, Emamectin Benzoate 5% SG 80 gm were made to keep the crop free from insects and pests. The crop was harvested with sickle on 3 rd June, 2024 when 85% of pods got matured. Two square meters of net plot were taken from the middle of each plot. After being harvested, the plants were tied up with rope and left in the sun to dry completely. After that, the crop was struck with sticks, the seeds were cleaned, and an electronic balance was used to weigh each plot individually. The analysis was completed by OPSTAT.

Results and Discussion

The results obtained are being discussed under the following sub heads. 1. Weed intensity (weed count, dry matter of weeds) 2. Crop growth parameters 3. Yield of crop

Weed intensity

Count of weeds were significantly higher in ridge sowing (1 on top and 1 in furrow) and ridge sowing (2 rows on slope) due to increased surface area as compared to flat planting patterns. (Table 1). Similarly, weed count was significantly less in flat sowing than bed sowing, ridge sowing (2 rows on slope) and ridge sowing (1 on top and 1 on furrow). The dry matter accumulation by weeds was significantly less in flat sowing and bed planting method than ridge sowing (2 rows on slope) and ridge sowing (1 on top and 1 on furrow) when observations were recorded at harvest. Ridge sowing (1 on top and 1 in furrow) noticed significantly higher dry matter of weeds than other methods which may be due to more growth of weeds in the former technique. Raj et al. (2010) [8] examined similar results. Among weed competition treatments, significantly less weed population and weed dry matter of weeds was recorded at harvest in pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch which was significantly better than other weed competition treatments. (Table 1) Weed control efficiency (WCE) (percentage) was more in flat sowing (58.7%) than other planting patterns techniques viz. bed sowing (57.90), ridge sowing -(2 rows on slope of ridge) (43.90%) and ridge sowing -(1 on top and 1 in furrow) (38.90%). Rajib et al. (2014) [9] examined similar results.

Crop growth parameters

Plant height (cm) is important growth factor. The height of plants increased significantly in ridge sowing (2-rows on slope), bed sowing and ridge sowing (1-on top 1 in furrow) methods as compared to flat sowing when recorded at harvest. (Table 2) The plant height in ridge sowing (2-rows on slope) was significantly more among all planting patterns which may be due to better growth of crop in this method. Chhodavadia reported same results. Significantly more dry matter accumulation by crop plant was observed at harvest in ridge sowing (1 on top 1 in furrow) than all other planting patterns. The number of nodules and other rooting traits of green gram are important for determining its overall productivity. The nodules per plants were significantly higher in bed sowing than flat sowing, ridge sowing rows on slope) and ridge sowing (1 on top and 1 on furrow) recorded statistically at par no. of nodules/ plant as compared to bed sowing. One-hand weeding resulted in a much higher plant height at harvest than other weed competition treatments because fewer weeds grew there (Table -2). Plant height in pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch was significantly more than pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha and unweeded (control) treatments. Also significantly less plant dry matter accumulation was recorded in unweeded (control) as compared to all weed control treatments which may be due to more weeds competition resulting in less growth of crop in control treatments. The dry matter accumulation by crop was significantly more in all weed control treatments than unweeded (control) treatment. The dry matter/plant in pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch was found at par with one hand weeding and both these treatments recorded significantly less dry matter than pre-emergence application of pendimethalin at 0.75 kg/ha. The nodules per plant at harvest were found numerically higher in one hand weeding treatments but the differences around weed control treatments were nonsignificant. Similar results were estimated by Jaswal et al.

Crop yield

Planting technique and weed control treatments significantly influenced the seed yield of summer green gram. (Table 3). The seed yield (q/ha) in ridge sowing of two rows on slope and was found to be significantly more than bed sowing, ridge sowing one on top and one in furrow and flat sowing. (Table 3) The highest seed yield was noticed in ridge sowing two rows on slope of ridge (15.26 q/ha) and bed sowing (13.27 q/ha) which was followed by ridge sowing one row on top and one in furrow (12.05 q/ha) and flat sowing (10.01 q/ha). The seed yield of bed sowing and ridge sowing (one on top and one in furrow) was found to be at par. The planting pattern of ridge sowing two rows on slope, bed sowing and ridge sowing one on top and one in furrow recorded 52.44%, 32.56% and 20.37% more grain yield than flat sowing. The biological yield and straw yield was significantly better in both ridge sowing methods i.e., two rows on slope and one on top and one in furrow than bed sowing method. Similar results were reported by Parihar et al. (2024) [6] . Among weed control treatments, the seed, straw and biological yield was significantly higher in all weed control treatment than unweeded (control). (Table 3) Significantly more seed yield was recorded in pendimethalin 30EC 0.75 kg/ha (15.28 q/ha), pendimethalin 30EC 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch (14.49 q/ha), one hand weeding 20 DAS (13.32 q/ha) as compared to unweeded control. (7.95 q/ha) and all former treatments were found at par. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha, pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch and one hand weeding increased seed yield by 92.20%, 82.26, and 67.54% percent than unweeded (control) treatment. Also all weed control treatments significantly increased biological and straw yield than unweeded (control). Similar results were reported by Singh et al. (2023) [12] .

Table 3: Grain yield (q/ha), biological yield (q/ha), straw yield (q/ha) of summer greengram as influenced by planting patterns and weed competition

Treatments

Seed yield (q/ha) Biological yield (q/ha) Stover yield (q/ha)

Conclusion

Among main plots, more seed yield (15.26 q/ha) and (13.27q/ha) was obtained in ridge sowing (two rows on slope) and bed sowing, as compared to ridge sowing (one on top and one in furrow) and flat sowing pattern. The increase in seed yield in planting pattern of ridge sowing (two rows on slope), bed sowing and ridge sowing (one on top and one in furrow) was 52.44%, 32.56% and 20.37% respectively than flat sowing. Among weed competition treatments, seed yield was significantly more in pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha and pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch than other weed control treatments. There were 92.20%, 82.26%, 67.54% increase in seed yield in pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha, pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by straw mulch and one hand weeding as compared to control (unweeded) treatment.

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