Effect of Weed Management Practices on Weed Growth and Yield of Wheat in Rice Based Cropping System Under Varying Levels of Tillage

Field trials were conducted in Typic Ustochrept alluvial sandy loam well-drained soils with rice (Saket-4) and wheat (HD-2285) as test crops in rice-wheat crop sequence with four levels of tillage and three weed management practices. In wheat crop, it was found that with conventional tillage and application of pre and post-emergence herbicides (pendimethalin 50 EC @ 2.0 L ha⁻¹ and isoproturan @ 2.0 kg ha⁻¹), Fumaria parviflora was the dominant weed species (53.4%) followed by Cyperus rotundus (18.0%), while in zero tillage Cyperus rotundus was the dominant (81.1%) weed species followed by Fumaria parviflora (11.1%). Weed growth (biomass & population) was significantly affected by weed management practices. Significantly higher grain yield of wheat was recorded with summer deep tillage and conventional tillage in direct seeded rice followed by conventional tillage in succeeding wheat (4.59 t ha⁻¹) as compared to zero tillage (4.11 t ha⁻¹). Maximum grain yield was obtained with two hand weedings (4.72 t ha⁻¹) which was significantly higher than herbicides alone (4.07 t ha⁻¹).