Effect of weed management on productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Introduction

India is self-sufficient in catering to the needs of major food staples like rice and wheat. On an average, wheat contributes to around 35% of total food grain production and 21% of cultivated area in the country (Tripathi et al., 2017) [9] . Wheat is the backbone of food security of India. It is utilized for bread, cakes, cookies, noodles, petri-products and chapatti etc. Wheat grains contains starch 60-68%, protein 8-15%, fat 1.5-2.0%, cellulose 2.0-2.5%, and minerals 1.5-2.0% (Rathore, 2001) [7] . Wheat crop contributes substantially to the national food security by providing more than 50% of the calories to the people who mainly depend on it. Wheat is grown on 32.80 million hectares (m ha) lands with total production of 117.94 million tons (m t) contributes 34 percent of the total food grain production in the country with the productivity of 3595 kg ha -1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOI 2025-26). Wheat Productivity has to be raised to meet ever increasing food demand in the country. In Rajasthan area under wheat crop is 3.17 m ha with production of 11.27 m t and productivity of 3559 kg ha -1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOR, 2025-26). The yield of wheat is reduced by weeds by around 33% to 50%. One of the main reasons for low wheat output is weed infestation, which decreases wheat yield by 37-50% (Waheed et al., 2009) [10] . Around 15-40% reduction in grain yield due to uncontrolled weeds reported by Jat et al., (2003) [4] . The predominant weed flora found in wheat crop is comprised of Phalaris minor, Avena ludoviciana, Chenopodium album, Melilotus india, Lathyrus aphaca and Rumex dentatus (Yadav et al., 2004) [11] . There are various methods of control and eradication of weeds viz. mechanical, biological and chemical but use of herbicides is the most popular method. Before 1970, weeds in wheat used to be controlled by manual labour but infestation of Phalaris minor in wheat crop necessitated the use of herbicides.

Methods and Materials

The experiment was conducted during Rabi 2025-26 at Agronomy farm, School of Agriculture, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur. Geographically, the study area is located at 75o48'84" E longitude and 26o82'47" N latitude and this region falls under agro-climatic zone III A (Semi-arid Eastern Plain Zone) of Rajasthan. The present experiment consisting of nine treatments combination was laid out in randomized block design i.e. weedy check, weed free, One hand weeding 30 DAS, Metsulfuron methyl 4 g ha -1 PoE, Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE, Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE, Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS), Pendimethalin + Pyrazosulfuron ethyl PE 785 g/ha and Pendimethalin fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g/ha (Early PoE 20 DAS).

Results and Discussion

Pendimethalin + Pyrazosulfuron ethyl at PE 785 g ha -1 , Pendimethalin at 800 g ha -1 , Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE, Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) and Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE increase the effective tiller in tune of 32.57, 28.44, 26.15 and 22.48 percent over weedy check. This might be due to better availability of nutrient, moisture, space and light which resulted better growth and development of plants similar finding also represented by Kaur et al., (2023) [5] . Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE, Metsulphuron methyl 4 g ha -1 PoE and one hand weeding remained statistically at par with each other and significantly superior over weedy check. Similar results also reported by Singh et al., (2018) [8] . The highest spike length and grains spike -1 were recorded with application of Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) which was significantly superior over metsulphuron methyl 4 g ha - 1 PoE, Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE and one hand weeding and remained statistically at par with Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE, Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS and weed free. These results are well corroborating with the findings of Sangeetha et al., (2009) who reported that maximum weed growth in unweeded control resulted in lowest panicles per plant as well as grains per panicle. All weed management practices with resulted in a significant increase in wheat grain and straw yield over weedy check. The maximum seed and straw yield were recorded with application of Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) which was significantly superior to weed check, one hand weeding at 25 DAS, Metsulfuron methyl 4 g ha -1 PoE, Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE, Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) and remained statistically at par with Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE, Pendimethalin + Pyrazosulfuron ethyl PE 785 g ha -1 and weed free. This indicated that sequential application of some postemergence herbicide (depending upon weed flora) is also required to achieve the potential yield. Similar finding also reported by Kaur et al., (2023) [5] . Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) was observed as the next superior and best herbicidal treatments by fetching the net return of Rs 123212. The increase of net return in percentage in tune of 3.46, 3.31 and 3.03 times more by pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS), Pendimethalin + Pyrazosulfuron ethyl PE 785 g ha -1 and Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE as compared to weedy check. Results of the present investigation corroborate the findings of Gopinath, (2008) [1] , Jat et al., (2003) [4] . The highest BCR 4.36 was recorded with pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 fb pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) followed by Pendimethalin + Pyrazosulfuron ethyl PE 785 g ha -1 (4.24), Pyrazosulfuronethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 PE (4.05), Pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10 WP 25 g ha -1 (Early PoE 20 DAS) (4.02), Pendimethalin 800 g ha -1 PE (3.87) and Metsulphuron methyl 4 g ha -1 PoE (3.86). similar finding also reported by Nagarjun and Dhanapal, (2018) [6] .

References

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