PJB-2013-70
DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE AND ECO-FRIENDLY WEED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MULCHING TECHNIQUES
SAIMA HASHIM*, KHAN BAHADAR MARWAT, MUHAMMAD SAEED, MUHAMMAD HAROON, MUHAMMAD WAQAS AND SHAHFAHAD
Abstract
To determine the effect of different mulching treatments against weeds in maize, an experiment was laid out in RCB Design during summer 2011. The mulching treatments consisted of farmyard manure, chicken manure, black plastic, white plastic, hand weeding, eucalyptus (chopped) and weedy check. The data were recorded on nitrogen content in weed (%), weed frequency (%), fresh weed biomass (kg ha-1), dry weed biomass (kg ha-1), plant height (cm), biological yield (kg ha-1), harvest index (%) and cost benefit ratio. Higher nitrogen content in weeds were observed in chicken manure which was statistically at par with farmyard manure, while lower nitrogen content were recorded in hand weeded plots. Maximum weed frequency (71.61%) was recorded for Cyperus rotundus L., while the minimum weed frequency was observed for Convolvulus arvensis L. (9.52%). The highest fresh weed biomass was recorded in weedy check (389.90 kg ha-1) and the lowest fresh weed biomass was recorded in hand weeding (35.10 kg ha-1) followed by black plastic (92.93 kg ha-1) and white plastic (128.70 kg ha-1). Different mulching treatments did not significantly affect plant height. The highest biological yield (8979 kg ha-1) was recorded in hand weeding plots however, it was statistically at par with black plastic producing biological yield of (8671.7 kg ha-1), while minimum biological yield (7363.7 kg ha-1) was recorded in weedy check plots. Maximum cost-benefit ratio was observed for farmyard manure plots (4.9) followed by chicken manure (4.6), while the minimum cost-benefit ratio was observed for hand weeding (3.5). The results showed that it is necessary to cover the soil surface with different materials to obtain high biological activity, retain soil moisture and to achieve a good control of weeds.
To Cite this article:
Download
