Effect of crop establishment methods and weed management practices on narrow leaf weeds in Kharif maize (Zea mays L.)

A field experiment was carried out on maize during kharif seasons of 2015 and 2016, involving three crop establishment methods (ridge and furrow, conventional flat-bed and raised-bed planting) and seven weed management practices [tembotrione 100 g/ha at 30 DAS, tembotrione 125 g/ha at 30 DAS, atrazine 1 kg/ha (PE) followed by one hand weeding at 30 DAS, atrazine (1 kg/ha, PE) followed by 2, 4-D at 30 DAS (0.5 kg/ha), pendimethalin (1kg/ha, PE) followed by one hand weeding at 30 DAS, weeded check and weed free]. It was undertaken in split-plot design with three replications at Varanasi. Results showed that crop establishment methods and weed management practices significantly (P=0.05) influenced the density of narrow-leaf weeds in maize. Among the crop establishment methods, raised-bed planting recorded lower density of narrow-leaf weeds at all the stages of observation during both the years. With respect to weed management practices, application of atrazine 1 kg/ha (PE) followed by 2, 4-D (0.5 kg/ha) at 30 DAS performed significantly better over rest of the treatments and recorded lower density of narrow-leaf weeds at all the growth stages (40, 60 DAS and at harvest) during both the years. Based on the study results, the combination of raised-bed crop establishment method and atrazine 1 kg/ha (PE) followed by 2, 4-D (0.5 kg/ha) recorded lower density of narrow-leaf weeds in kharif maize.