Bio-efficacy of herbicides against different weed flora of wheat in central plain zone of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop among the cereals and ranks next to the rice in term of
production. Wheat crop incurred heavy loss due to weed infestation, the most dominant weeds in
wheat crop are Phalaris minor, Chenopodium album, Melilotus alba, Anagallis arvensis and Convolvulus
arvensis etc. About 37% yield losses occurs due to grass weeds only. Conventional method of
weed removal is costly as well as ineffective. Whereas, application of herbicides for controlling
weeds have been found effective and economical in wheat crop. Results revealed that weeds
prevailed through-out the crop period caused, on an average, yield reduction of 42%. The
application of herbicides viz. clodinafop-propargyl (15%) + metsulfuron (1%), sulfosulfourn (75%
WG) + metsulfuron methly (5% WG) and clodinafop-propargyl 15% WP @100% recommended
dose (RDC) shows greater effect on control of Phalaris minor. clodinafop-propargyl (15%) +
metsulfuron (1%) @ 100% RDC showed very effective against grasses as well as broadleaf weeds
followed by SF-10 100% RDC and clodinafop-propargyl (15%) + metsulfuron (1%) @ 75% RDC,
respectively. All the yield attributing character viz., spike weight (g), length of spike (cm), number
of spikelets/spike and 1000-grain weight were also maximized under clodinafop-propargyl (15%)
+ metsulfuron (1%) (100% RDC) under herbicide application treatments. The weed free treatment
provided maximum grain yield (50.06 q/ ha) followed by treatment where clodinafop-propargyl
(15%) + metsulfuron (1%) (100% RDC) (49.13 q/ha) was applied.