Effect of organic manures and weed management practices on weeds, yield and soil microbial properties in fennel

A field experiment was conducted during kharif-rabi season of the year 2017–18 at AICRP-Weed Management Farm, AAU, Anand to study the effect of organic manures and weed management practices on weeds, yield and soil microbial properties in fennel. The results revealed that application of paddy straw mulch applied at 5 and 10 t/ha fb HW at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DATP) and IC+HW at 30 and 60 DATP fb earthing-up at 75 days after transplanting recorded significantly lower density and dry biomass of monocot, dicot and total weeds. The periodically plant height, number of umbels/plant and seed yield of fennel, as well as soil microbial properties were also recorded higher under these treatments. Application of FYM and vermicompost helped in building up the bacterial, fungal and actinobacter population at all the intervals. However, positive effect of organic manure treatments was not observed with respect to growth and yield attributes of fennel.