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Pak. J. Bot., 42(1): 173-179, 2010. |
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Updated: 08-03-10 | ||||
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INTERFERENCE OF HORSE PURSLANE (TRIANTHEMA PORTULACASTRUM L.) WITH MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) AT DIFFERENT DENSITIES
MUHAMMAD SAEED, KHAN BAHADAR MARWAT*, GUL HASSAN, AZIM KHAN AND IJAZ AHMAD KHAN
Abstract: To quantify the impact of horse purslane (Trianthema portulacastrum) on the yield and yield components of maize, experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Farm, NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan for two crop seasons viz., 2006 and 2007, using open pollinated variety ‘Azam’. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with split plot arrangements having three replications. Four maize plant spacings (15, 20, 25 and 30 cm) were kept in main plots, while weed densities (3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 m-2) were allotted to sub plots. Narrow plant spacing of 15 cm produced higher grain yield of 2.85 and 2.66 t ha-1 as compared to 2.30 and 2.08 t ha-1 in wider plant spacing of 30 cm during 2006 and 2007, respectively. However, during both years, yield components of individual plants were negatively affected with a decrease in plant spacing. Similarly, control plots produced higher grain yield of 3.04 and 2.87 t ha-1as compared to grain yield of 2.14 and 2.0 t ha-1 in plots having weed density of 18 plants m-2 in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Losses due to T. portulacastrum were 4.2, 11.1, 18.6, 20.4, 27.2 and 29.5% during 2006 and 9.3, 14.3, 18.3, 23.2, 25.1 and 30.2% during 2007 in plots having 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 weeds m-2. Two years research showed that narrow spacing enhanced competitive ability of maize crop and suppressed weed growth, which eventually resulted in higher yield, depicting that T. portulacastrum is a strong competitor of maize and may cause substantial yield losses depending on plant spacing and weed density. Moreover, plant spacing alone is not effective to suppress T. portulacastrum; therefore, other cultural practices should also be integrated with narrow spacing to reduce yield losses in maize crop.
Department of Weed Science, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar *E-mail: kbmarwat@yahoo.com |
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