Evaluation of the Impact of Herbicidal Weed Management Practices on Weed Density, Yield Attributes and Yield of Irrigated Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

In the Rabi season of 2021-22, an experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Research Farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar. The aim was to examine how herbicidal weed management affects irrigated chickpea. The experiment was laid out in Randomised Block Design (RBD) with thirteen treatments, each repeated three times. The treatments included various herbicides applied at different stages, such as pre-plant incorporation (PPI), pre-emergence (PRE), and post-emergence (POE). Interestingly, the Ready mix (RM) herbicide application of pendimethalin + imazethapyr (RM) @ 1000 g a.i ha-1, applied both as PPI and PRE, outperformed the herbicides applied solely as PPI, PRE, or POE. Among the herbicidal treatments, the combined during PPI and PRE stages exhibited excellent control over a diverse weed population, leading to a significant increase in chickpea yield compared to the weedy check. The number of seeds per pod, pods per plant, and branches per plant varied significantly with different weed control treatments. Weed-free plots showed the highest values in these parameters. The uncontrolled growth of weeds in the weedy check resulted in a 55.2% reduction in seed yield as compared to weed-free plots. The maximum seed yield (1968 kg ha-1) and favorable yield attributes were observed in the weed- free treatment, statistically comparable to the yield obtained from two hand weeding at 30 and 50 days after sowing (1940 kg ha-1). Among herbicidal treatments, the highest seed yield was achieved with the PRE application of pendimethalin + imazethapyr (RM) @ 1000 g a.i. ha-1 (1827 kg ha-1). The dominant weed flora consisted of Chenopodium album, Fumaria parviflora and Anagallis arvensis. Density of different weed species was significantly influenced by different weed control treatments. All the weed control treatments significantly reduced the total weed density and dry matter accumulation by weeds in comparison to weedy check. Weed free and two hand hoeing reduced the weed population drastically which was statistically at par with PRE application of pendimethalin + imazethapyr (RM) at 1000 g a.i. ha-1. Chenopodium album, Fumaria parviflora and Anagallis arvensis were effectively controlled by RM irrespective of its time of application.