Weed management and yield of Kharif hybrid maize as affected by post-emergence herbicides and plant growth promoters

A field experiment was conducted during two consecutive Kharif seasons (2022 and 2023) at the Students’ Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur Uttar Pradesh, India, to study the effect of post-emergence herbicides and plant growth promoters in managing weeds and improve productivity of Kharif maize (Zea mays L.). On the pooled data basis, the application of Amino acid + Humic acid + Sea weed extract 2ml/liter of water recorded significantly highest values of maize growth attributes, viz. plant height, dry weight and leaf area index at 90 days after seeding (DAS) and yield attributes, viz. number of cob/plants, number of grain rows/cob, number of grains/row and seed index along with maize grain yield and harvest index. Among herbicidal treatments, tembotrione at 120 g/ha significantly reduced total weed density, fresh weight and dry weed biomass, and recorded the highest weed control efficiency (85.92%). It also recorded maximum growth attributes, improved yield attributes and higher grain yield, harvest index and benefit-cost ratio. There was no substantial interaction between herbicide treatments and plant growth regulators.