Weed control efficacy of different post-emergence herbicides in mungbean (Vigna radiata) in hot arid regions

A field experiment was carried out during the rainy (Kharif) season of 2017 to 2019 at Jodhpur, Rajasthan to find the herbicide effective for mungbean [Vigna radiate (l.) R. Wilczek] in arid regions. The treatments comprised pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides along with hand-weeding, weed-free, and unweeded. Results revealed that, weed-control treatments brought about a 48.9–73.3% reduction in total weeds density and 46.880.1% reduction in dry weed weight at harvesting as compared to unweeded control. Post-emergence application of propaquizafop + imazethapyr @125 g a.i./ha, being at par to other imazethapyr treatments and hand-weeding, resulted in significantly lowest total weed density (24.1/m²) and total weed dry weight (66.6 g/m²) with highest weed-control efficiency (80.1%) and showed the lowest values of weed index (18.4). Moreover, post-emergence application of clodinafop-propargyl + sodium acifluorfen @ 312.5 g a.i./ha also exhibited weed-control efficiency (73.2%) and weed index (21.0) at par with other imazethapyr treatments and hand-weeding. Propaquizafop + imazethapyr @ 125 g a.i./ha, being at par with clodinafop-propargyl + sodium acifluorfen @ 312.5 g a.i./ha and weed-free recorded significantly higher crop dry weight (542 g/m²), pods/plant (24.7), 1,000-seed weight (55.2 g), seed yield (840 kg/ha), and stover yield (2,563 kg/ha). Application of propaquizafop + imazethapyr @125 g a.i./ha also registered highest gross returns (₹58.08 x 10³/ha) and net returns (₹42.58 x 10³/ha) which were comparable to returns recorded under clodinafop-propargyl + sodium-acifluorfen @ 312.5 g a.i./ha. Propaquizafop + imazethapyr @ 125 g a.i./ha being comparable with clodinafop-propargyl + sodium-acifluorfen @ 312.5 g a.i./ha was also found superior in terms of impact assessment indices.