Effect of Herbicide Application on Weed Management in Green Gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidylaya (Nadia, West Bengal) during 2012 and 2013 (during March-May) in upland situation to judge the efficacy of the herbicides against weed flora in green gram crop field and also to find out the effect of herbicides on growth, yield and benefit cost ratio of green gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] crop. The soil of experimental site was sandy loam in texture having neutral in soil reaction.The experiment was conducted with 14 treatments and laid out in Randomized Block Design with 3 replications. The green gram variety used was IPM-2-3. It was observed that hand weeding resulted in significantly lower weed density and dry weight and gave better seed yield of green gram. Most of the herbicides were found effective in controlling weeds and maximizing seed yield of green gram. These treatments were at par with hand weeding twice at 20 and 40 DAS. Total weed free treatment showed the best performance in respect of yield and yield attributes of green gram crop and weeds management. The herbicidal treatments Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl@50 g a.i. ha-1 and @ 100 g a.i. ha-1 were found less effective for controlling weeds. Maximum benefit: cost ratio was obtained from Vellore 32(Pendimethalin 30 EC+Imazethapyr 2 EC)@1.00 kg a.i. ha-1. Hand weeding treatments, though significantly reduced weed biomass and improved the grain yield, gave less benefit: cost ratio owing to higher cost of farm labour.