Determining Critical Weeding Period in Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) Under Rain Fed Condition in Western Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) belongs to the order of Fabales, Faboideae sub family and Fabaceae or Leguminosae family. The field experiment was carried out in 2014-2016 main growing seasons at Humera and Kebabo with the aim of determining critical weeding period. The experiment was conducted in RCBD design replicated three times and consists of 15 treatments. The crop was kept weed-free for the first 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 days after sowing and then remained weedy till harvest or kept weedy for the same periods and then remained weed- free till harvest. Weed free and weedy treatments till harvest were included as controls for comparison. Mungbean variety of Arkeb was sown at a distance of plant to plant 5 cm and row to row 40 cm and the plot area was 10 m2. The combine analysis of three winter seasons revealed that unrestricted weed growth significantly reduce yield of mungbean by 52% compared to completely weed free. Mungbean seed yield increased when the duration of weed infestation period decreased. Yield components such as number of pods per plant didn’t show significant difference, while number of seeds per pod and 100 seed weight shown significant difference. The critical weeding period for mungbean was 10-20 and 30-40 days after sowing.