Economics, Sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron, Weed control efficiency, Wheat, Yield
A field experiment was conducted during 2014-15 and 2015-16 to evaluate the efficacy of pre- and post-emergence herbicides and their combination against complex weed flora in wheat. Twelve treatments consisted with ten herbicidal treatments, pre-emergence application of pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha, metribuzin 0.21 kg/ha, post-emergence application of sulfosulfuron 0.025 kg/ha, clodinafop 0.06 kg/ha, pendimethalin + metribuzin (1 + 0.175 kg/ha), pendimethalin fb sulfosulfuron (1 fb 0.018 kg/ha), sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron-methyl (0.03 + 0.002 kg/ha), pinoxaden + metsulfuron-methyl (0.06 + 0.004 kg/ha), mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron-methyl (0.012 + 0.0024 kg/ha), clodinafop + metsulfuron-methyl (0.06 + 0.004 kg/ha), two hand weeding at 30 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) and weedy check, were tested in randomized block design with three replications. Two hand weeding at 30 and 60 DAS recorded significantly reduced weed density and weed dry matter at 60 DAS with weed control efficiency of 85.26% and 84.14%, respectively. However, application of sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron resulted in maximum grain yield of 4.58 and 4.54 t/ha, net return of ¹ 51396 and 51136/ha and B:C ratio of 3.26 and 3.24, respectively in both the years compared to other herbicide applications. Thus, it may be concluded that for higher productivity and weed control, application of sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron (0.03 + 0.002 kg/ha) was found to be the best practice among the various herbicidal combinations.