Evaluation of Mulching Effects on Weed Control in Blackgram Production under Irrigated Condition

Abstract

A field experiment with the objectives to understand the evaluation of mulching effects on weed control in blackgram production under irrigated condition involving two factors viz., mulching (paddy straw mulching, sugarcane trash mulching, no mulching) and herbicidal treatments (pendimethalin pre-emergence (PE) @ 1.0 Kg/ha, pendimathalin + Imazethapyr (pre-mix) pre-emergence Valor 32% EC 1.0 Kg/ha, Hand weeding on 15 and 30 days after sowing, weedy check) was undertaken in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) design with three replications at the instructional farm of Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore region of western Tamil Nadu during the cropping seasons of Rabi 2022-23. Results revealed that paddy straw mulching sequential application of Pendimathalin + Imazethapyr (pre-mix) pre-emergence Valor 32% EC and sugarcane trash mulching sequential application of pendimathalin + imazethapyr (pre-mix) pre-emergence Valor 32% EC recorded lower weed density, weed dry weight and maximum crop yield as well as net returns over rest of the mulching and herbicidal treatments.