Integrated weed management in cotton under irrigated conditions of South Gujarat

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during kharif seasons of 2020-21 to 2022-23 at Main Cotton Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat, Gujarat, to study the effect of integrated weed management in cotton comprising six treatments viz., weedy check (T1), weed free check through hand weeding (T2), application of Pendimethalin 30% EC @ 1 kg a.i./ha as pre-emergence + hand weeding at 30 and 60 days after sowing (T3), application of Pendimethalin 30% EC @ 1 kg a.i./ha as pre-emergence followed by Pyrithiobac sodium 10% EC @ 62.5 g a.i./ha + Quizalofop-ethyl 5% EC @ 50 g a.i./ha (Tank mixture) at 30 days after sowing (T4), T4 + one interculturing and hand weeding at 60 days after sowing (T5) and application of Pendimethalin 30% EC @ 1 kg a.i./ha as pre-emergence + 0.5 kg/ha of Paraquat dichloride 24% SL + one interculturing and hand weeding at 60 days after sowing (T6) under irrigated condition. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with four replications. The results revealed that treatments viz., three hand weeding at 30, 60 and 90 days after sowing and application of Pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i./ha as pre-emergence + two hand weeding at 30 and 60 days after sowing were found effective in enhancing growth, yield attributes and seed cotton yield and reducing dry weight of weeds.