Impact of drone-based post-emergence herbicide application on nutrient depletion by weeds and grain yield of transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Field experiment was carried out during Kharif, (2022) in Rice Research Centre, Agriculture Research Institute, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad to evaluate the post-emergence herbicide efficacy for drone spraying in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.). The experiment was designed in RBD with 7 treatments and was replicated thrice. Results indicated that among all the treatments, significantly higher nutrient removal by weeds at all stages was observed in unweeded control. Hand weeding at 20, 40 and 60 DAT recorded lower nutrient removal by weeds and higher grain yield followed by penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD @ 180 g a.i ha-1 application with drone and it was statistically on par with application penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD @ 120 g a.i ha-1 using knapsack sprayer, application of penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD @ 150 g a.i ha-1 using drone and application of penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD @ 120 g a.i ha-1 using drone.