Effect of herbicides mixture on productivity and Profitability of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivation in rainfed subtropics of Jammu region

Abstract:

Wheat (TriticumaestivumL.) is the second most important staple crop in India after rice. Weeds have emerged as the major biotic stress in wheat. Post-emergence herbicidal combinations are used widely to control the complex weed flora in wheat crops. Over the past decades, micronutrient deficiency has emerged as a major constraint in wheat production, especially zinc and iron. The field experiment was conducted at KVK, Reasi, J&K, during the Rabi season of 2018-19. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design having three replications; each having seven treatments. Weedy check and weed-free were maintained throughout the experiment.  The Weed control efficiency (%) and weed index was calculated from the yield of weed-free and respective treatment yield. Economic evaluation was made in terms of gross returns, net returns, and benefit-cost ratio. Results of the experiment revealed that the application of Pinoxaden + Carfentrazone @ 50 +20 gha^-1 was the most effective herbicidal combination among the tested herbicidal combinations and yielded the lowest weed index 4.34 and highest weed control efficiency 91.54%. Whereas, Weed free produced significantly the highest grain yield of 3883 kg ha-1 and straw yield of 5323 kg ha-1 respectively. In the case of economics common cost of cultivation for growing a wheat crop comes out to 25568.46/ha^-1 and the highest cost of cultivation was recorded in weed-free 31568.46 /ha^-1, highest net return 63453.59 ha^-1 under the treatmentSulfosulfuron + Metsulfuron 32 g ha^-1 followed by Mesosulfuron + Iodosulfuron  (62820.04).