Influence of Weed Management Practices on Weed Control Efficiency, Yield and Economics in Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. saccharata)

The field experiment was conducted in sandy loam soil at Research Farm, M.S. Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Bagusala village, Paralakhemundi, Odisha, India during summer season of 2018. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications and eight treatments. The herbicidal treatmentrs of pre emergence (PE) application of either pendimethalin @ 0.75kg/ha, oxyfluorfen @ 50 g/ha and metribuzin @ 0.3 kg/ha at 1 day after sowing (DAS) or the same herbicides supplimented with straw mulching (SM) @ 6 t/ha at 30 DAS were compared with intercultivation twice at 20 and 40 DAS and unweeded control.

Experimental results revealed that weed mangement treatments significantly influenced the yield attributes and yield of sweet corn along with improvement in weed control efficiency. Pre emergence application of either metribuzin @ 0.30 kg/ha or pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha at 1 DAS in combination with SM @ 6.0 t/ha at 30 DAS remarkbly enhanced the yield attributes such as number of cobs/plant, cob length, cob girth and cob weight. The green cob (11.78 t/ha) and forage (14.55 t/ha) yield were the highest with metribuzin @ 0.30 kg/ha as PE at 1 DAS + SM @ 6 t/ha at 30 DAS. It was followed by pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha as PE at 1 DAS + SM @ 6 t/ha at 30 DAS producing the green cob and forage yield of 11.21 and 14.22 t/ha, respectively. The reduction in yield was to the tune of 35.10% due to uninterrupted growth of weeds. The maximum gross return ( 250150/ha), net return ( 181635/ha) and B: C ratio (2.65) were obtained with PE application of metribuzin @ 0.30 k g/ha at 1 DAS + SM @ 6 t/ha at 30 DAS. It was followed by pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha as PE at 1 DAS + SM @ 6 t/ha at 30 DAS registering the gross and net return of ` 238420/ha and 169605/ha, respectively.

Pre emergence application of metribuzin @ 0.3 kg/ha at 1 day after sowing supplimented with straw mulching @ 6 t/ha at 30 days after sowing was observed as an efficient and economical method of weed management in sweet corn.