Effect of integrated weed management practices on the growth and yield of direct-seeded rice in the sub-montane zone of Maharashtra

Heavy weed infestation is the major problem faced by the farmers in direct seeded rice, which in severe cases results in full crop loss and diminishes the economic return. It is reported that the critical period of weed competition in DSR continues to be up to 41 days after sowing (DAS). In the long run, an integrated weed management system has the potential to minimise herbicide use and result in sustainable weed control in DSR. Keeping the above facts in view, an experiment entitled "Integrated weed management in direct-seeded rice in the sub-montane zone of Maharashtra" in Kharif season of 2021 was carried out at the Agronomy farm, survey number 359, RCSM College of Agriculture, Kolhapur (Maharashtra). The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design (RBD) with twelve treatments replicated three times. All the integrated weed management treatments resulted in a significant reduction in weed intensity and dry matter accumulation with higher weed control efficiency and other weed indices as compared to unwedded check (UWC). Among the integrated weed management treatments, pretilachlor 30.7% EC @ 0.450 kg A.I. ha−1 at 2-3 DAS (PE) fb hoeing at 25 DAS fb hand weeding at 40 DAS (T8) recorded the highest plant height (87.23 cm), number of functional leaves plant-1 (28.38), leaf area plant-1 (15.60 dm2), number of tillers m-2 (366.67) and dry matter accumulation (1626.87 g m-2) at harvest as compared to the other treatments. It also recorded the highest values for all the yield attributing characters and yield, viz., number of panicles m-2 (274.33), panicle length (23.63 cm), weight of panicle (3.62 g), number of grains panicle-1 (113.33), test weight (19.80 g), grain yield (55.24 q ha-1), straw yield (85.04 q per ha) and biological yield (140.28 q ha-1) and found to be the best integrated weed management practice.