International Journal of Pure & Applied Bioscience (IJPAB)
Year : 2017, Volume : 5, Issue : 4
First page : (1519) Last page : (1524)
Article doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.5612

Effect of Non-Chemical Weed Management Practices on Weed Control Efficiency and Grain Yield in Organic Rice Production

Bavaji Gudi Shobha Rathod* and E. Somasundaram
Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, 641 003
*Corresponding Author E-mail: rathodshoba@gmail.com
Received: 24.07.2017  |  Revised: 6.08.2017   |  Accepted: 9.08.2017  

 ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2014 at wetland farms of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to find out the effect of non-chemical weed management practices on efficacy and grain yield in organic rice production. Among the weed management practices application of rice bran 2 t ha-1fb hand weeding had resulted in significantly higher (83.8, 91.0 and 95.9  per cent at 20, 30 and 50 DAT) weed control efficiency. Mulching with biodegradable polyethelene sheet registered higher DMP of 5984 kg ha-1 at 60 DAT, crop growth rate (4.08 g m-2 day-1 at 90 – 120 DAT) and higher grain (5557 kg ha-1) yield which was at par with application of rice bran at 2 t ha-1 on 3 DAT followed by hand weeding on 35 DAT. Panicle length and harvest index were not influenced significantly due to adoption of different weed management practices. Mulching with biodegradable polyethelene sheet resulted in minimum competition to application of rice bran at 2 t ha-1fb hand weeding of 3.24 per cent compared to unweeded check.  Among all the treatments, unweeded check resulted in lower DMP (3654 kg ha-1), CGR (2.17 g m-2 day-1), grain yield (2774 kg ha-1) and higher (50.08 per cent) weed index. But taking into consideration of economics, hand weeding on 15 DAT followed by azolla inoculation on the same day recorded the highest net returns and B:C ratio compared with all other treatments.

Key words: Weed control efficiency, weed index, organic rice, grain yield

Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782

Cite this article: Bavaji Gudi, S.R. and Somasundaram, E., Effect of Non-Chemical Weed Management Practices on Weed Control Efficiency and Grain Yield in Organic Rice Production, Int. J. Pure App. Biosci.5(4): 1519-1524 (2017). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.5612