Vol. 18 No. 3
Influence of organic weed management practices on phyto-sociology and diversity of weeds in maize-pea cropping system
Author(s): G. HETTA, S.S. RANA, S. KUMAR AND M. CHAKRABORTY
Abstract:
The knowledge of the impact of management practices used in each agricultural production system on the ecological interactions between commercial crops and weed populations can assist in the development of specific and sustainable management strategies. A study was carried out during 2018-19 (rabi – pea crop) to 2019 (kharif - maize crop) at Agronomy farm, Palampur (H.P) under an ongoing trial of AICRP-WM (All India Coordinated Research Project on Weed Management) commenced since kharif 2016. Ten treatments were tested including: T1: hoeing; T2: stale seed bed (SSB) + hoeing; T3: raised stale seed bed (RSSB) + hoeing; T4: mulch; T5: SSB + mulch; T6: RSSB + mulch; T7: intercropping; T8: crop rotation; T9: intensive cropping and T10: chemical check for weed management. The experiment was performed in a randomized block design with three replications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the phytosociology of the weed communities in maize and pea in different seasons, emphasizing on the relative importance of weeds and their biomass. A phytosociological analysis of the weeds was performed at monthly interval for different seasons. The dominant weed species in pea crop were Stellaria media and Phalaris minor with Importance Value Index (IVI) of 31.9 and 30.9, respectively. Shannon Weiner index accounting for order or abundance of a species within a sample plot was highest under RSSB+Hoeing followed by intensive cropping. The dominant weed species in maize crop were found to be Echinochloa colona, Cyperus sp. (C. iria and C.esculentus) and Commelina benghalensis having IVI of 56.4, 53.8 and 43.9, respectively. Shannon Weiner index was highest for the RSSB+hoeing followed by SSB+Hoeing and intercropping. Overall system’s maize cob equivalent yield was found 10.4% higher in intensive cropping than the chemical check because of more yield from additional crops. RSSB + hoeing and intercropping resulted in comparable yields as chemical check.
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