Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2010, to study the effect of weed management practices on weed control, growth and yield of rice (Oryza sativa L) under lowland conditions. The treatments consisted of pre-emergence application of butachlor and metsulfuron methyl along with post-emergence application of 2, 4-D EE or conoweeding at 20 DAT, which was compared to two hand weedings at 20 and 40 DAT and control. Among the herbicidal treatments, pre – emergence application of metsulfuron methyl at l 6 g ha -1 + post emergence spray of 2, 4-D EE at 500 g ha -1 recorded the least weed density (81.32 m -2 ), weed biomass (30.68 m-2 ) and maximum weed control efficiency (76.68%) in rice. Among the growth parameters of rice, maximum plant height (88.07 cm), plant dry weight (63.40 g), number of tillers plant -1 (22.1) and crop growth rate (0.951 g m -2 day -1 ) were recorded under the aforesaid treatment. Better yield attributes, higher grain yield (5.01 t ha -1 ), harvest index (39.10 %), net return ( 36235 ha -1 ) and benefit: cost ratio (2.02) of rice were recorded under the same treatment.

Keywords: Rice (Oryza sativa L.), lowland transplanted rice, weed management, Butachlor, Metsulfuron methyl, 2, 4-D EE, Conoweeding, hand weedings.