Herbicide-Free Technology for Suppressing Weeds on the Crops of Late-Ripening Maize in the Kabardino-Balkaria Steppe Zone

Abstract

As a result of multi-year research (2015-2017) of effective care techniques in the post-sowing periods, the authors have concluded that it is possible to avoid the expensive use of herbicides to fight weeds of cultivated maize hybrids. Thus when a post-sowing packaging of ZKVG-1.4 was used; inter-row treatments with KRN-5.6 was carried out, additionally equipped with plowshares (sprinkling weeds in protective zones); harrows were weeded (effective combing in the area of crop rows); and irrigation furrows were cut with a ditch-furrow cutter, there was a 75.3-78.9% reduction in weeds, compared with a 78.5-84.3% reduction when chemical weeding was used. This saved up to 0.4 t/ha of Kabardinskaya-3812 and Mashuk-480 SV and up to 0.5 t/ha Krasnodar-620 MV from losses. When weeds were removed manually during the growing season as they appeared on the maize hybrid crops, an average of 0.4-0.6 t/ha were saved. Therefore, there is no need to use expensive herbicides for the crops of maize hybrids Mashuk-480 SV, Krasnodar-620 MV and Kabardinskaya-3812 in the fight against juvenile gramineous bilobated weed infestations. According to the results of our research, a significant alternative is the technologically competent use of all elements of agricultural technology with the obligatory consideration of the species composition of the weeds in each area. In addition, in Kabardino-Balkaria, the irrigated wedge accounts for only 130.7 thousand hectares of arable land out of the total sown area (286.8 thousand hectares). In the Republic, the main areas sown with maize are located on irrigated lands where the biological potential of this crop is realized to the greatest extent. However, it is on irrigated lands that weeds harm the maize crop the most. Therefore, the problem of protecting crops from weeds using cheaper methods for irrigation remains urgent.
 Keywords: herbicides, weeds, vegetation period, manual weeding, grain productivity, crops harrowing, soil packing