Sustainable Tillage and Weed Management Interventions for Enhancing Productivity and Reducing Weed Pressure in Canola Systems

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Ineffective weed control strategies in oilseed rape at the early stages of crop establishment have underscored the need to investigate diverse weed management practices under different tillage practices to decrease weed pressure and realize the potential yield of oilseed rape. Therefore, an experiment was carried out during two Rabi seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24) in maize based cropping system at Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab to evaluate four tillage practices i.e., conventional tillage without residue (CT without residue), conventional tillage with residue retention (CT + residue retention), zero tillage without residue (ZT without residue) and zero tillage with residue retention (ZT + residue retention) combined with three weed management strategies, i.e., integrated weed management (IWM), herbicide rotation and un-weeded check laid down under split plot design in three replications. ZT + residue retention recorded good control of grasses and broadleaf weeds biomass and produced higher (22.2%, 30.5% and 16.7%) seed yield and lesser total variable seeding + maize residue management cost (78.4%, 78.8% and 72.2%) of oilseed rape over CT + residue retention, CT without residue and ZT without residue, respectively. Among weed control treatments, IWM recorded higher control of all grasses and broadleaf weed density and biomass at 60 DAS and resulting in a higher (20.8%) seed yield of oilseed rape over un-weeded/untreated control. The adoption of these practices ensures a reduction in production cost, ecological balance and aligns with the goals of sustainable agricultural practices.