Efficacy of imidazolinone herbicides on weed dynamics, productivity and profitability of pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]
Keywords:
Economics, Grain yield, Imazethapyr, Imazamox + imazethapyr, WeedsAbstract
A field investigation was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of imidazolinone herbicides on weeds, crop growth, productivity, and profitability of pigeonpea. The experiment consisted of fourteen treatments replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. The highest weed density and dry matter were recorded in the weedy check, whereas hand weeding (HW) resulted in the lowest weed dry matter, followed by pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha + HW at 6 weeks after sowing (WAS). Among herbicidal treatments, early postemergence application of imazethapyr (75 g/ha) and the premix imazamox + imazethapyr (70 g/ha) effectively reduced weed dry matter. On pooled basis, two HW recorded the highest grain yield (1581 kg/ha), which was statistically at par with pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha as pre-emergence (PE) + HW (1512 kg/ha), imazethapyr 75 g/ha at 15 days after sowing (DAS) (1327 kg/ha) and imazamox + imazethapyr 70 g/ha at 25 DAS (1323 kg/ha) and significantly better than the other treatments. Economic analysis revealed that pendimethalin 0.45 (PE) kg/ ha (PE) + HW provided the highest net returns, followed by imazethapyr 75 g/ha at 15 DAS and imazamox + imazethapyr 70 g/ha at 25 DAS. However, the highest benefit-to-cost (B:C) ratio was achieved with imazethapyr 75 g/ ha at 15 DAS (2.11), followed by imazamox + imazethapyr 70 g/ha at 25 DAS (2.08). Overall, the study concluded that early post-emergence imidazolinone herbicides (imazethapyr 75 g/ha at 15 DAS and imazamox + imazethapyr 70 g/ ha at 25 DAS) and pendimethalin 0.45 kg/ha followed by HW are effective and economically viable options for sustainable weed management in pigeonpea.
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