Blackgram, Economics, Grain yield, Imazethapyr, Weeds
The field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during rainy season 2022 and 2023 to study the effect of pre- and post-emergence herbicides on the weeds, growth, productivity and profitability of blackgram. The experiment consisted of ten treatments replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. Two hand weeding significantly reduced the weed biomass and density followed by application of imazethapyr 75 g/ha as well as 50 g/ha at 15 days after sowing (DAS). In 2022, more frequent rains were received than in 2023, which resulted in several flushes of weeds. As compared to weedy check, pre-emergence (PE) application of imazethapyr 50 g/ha at 15 DAS in 2022 and pre-mix pendimethalin + imazethapyr 450 g/ha as well as 750 g/ha in 2023 showed significant superiority in managing weeds and increasing crop growth. On the basis of pooled mean, application of imazethapyr 50 and 75 g/ha at 15 DAS and pendimethalin + imazethapyr 750 g/ha (PE) resulted in 97.8, 88.1 and 84.4% higher grain yield over weedy check. On pooled mean basis, the highest net returns were provided by imazethapyr 50 g/ha at 15 DAS (Rs 61804/ha) followed by hand weeding (Rs 59812/ha), imazethapyr 75 g/ha at 15 DAS (Rs 56618/ha) and pendimethalin + imazethapyr 750 (Rs 54650/ha). It can be concluded that imazethapyr 50 g/ha at 15 DAS or pendimethalin + imazethapyr 750 g/ha can be applied in Kharif blackgram for managing weeds effectively and obtaining high productivity and profitability.