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).