Efficacy of Atrazioe at Different Moisture Levels for Weed Management in Sugarcane under Mid-hill Conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Field experiment was carried out in a split plot design with combinations of two varieties of sugarcane (CO-1148 and COJ-64) and two moisture levels (irrigated and unirrigated) in main plots and five weed management treatments viz., unweeded control, weed free, atrazine 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 kg/ha applied as pre-emergence in sub plots. Variety CO-1148 produced significantly higher yield as compared to COJ-64 under both irrigated and unirrigated conditions. Weeds in unweeded check reduced the cane yield by 44.4% over weed free conditions. Weed free conditions recorded significantly higher yield and was statistically at par with atrazine 2.5 kg/ha. However under irrigated conditions atrazine 2.5 kg/ha produced significantly higher yield over atrazine 2.5 kg/ha uhder unirrigated conditions. Significantly highest Benefit/cost ratio was obtained with atrazine 2.5 kg/ha.