Studies on weed management in young peach orchards

Three pre-emergence herbicides, viz. oxyflurofen (Goal 2E) @ 0.5,0.75,1.0 litre (a.i.) ha⁻¹, oxadiazon (Ronstar) 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 litre (a.i.) ha⁻¹ and metolachlor (Dual) @ 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 litre (a.i.) ha⁻¹ were applied twice, i.e. in March and October. A uniform application of post-emergence herbicide glyphosate @ 1.5 litre (a.i.) ha⁻¹ was made twice, i.e. in June and August, to all the experimental plots. Apart from these, manual weeding was also done at monthly intervals. The orchard was found to be manifested with 7 monocot and 23 dicots prominent weed species. All the treatments significantly reduced the weed population, dry weight of weed and nutrient depletion by weeds as compared to control (unweeded). In this respect, pre-emergence herbicide oxyflurofen @ 1.0 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ was found to be the most effective treatment for control of dicot weeds. Application of metolachlor @ 2.0 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ and oxadiazon @ 1.25 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ controlled both monocot and dicot weeds. The various weed control treatments had a non-significant effect on fruit yield, total soluble solids and acidity. The highest fruit weight was obtained with oxyflurofen @ 1.0 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ followed by oxadiazon @ 1.0 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ and oxyflurofen @ 0.75 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹. However, metolachlor @ 2.0 l (a.i.) ha⁻¹ proved to be most effective and economical treatment.