Productivity and plant stand of perennial lucerne (Medicago sativa) under different weed-control measures during establishment year
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v50i3.5117Keywords:
Lucerne productivity, Weed, Forage yield, Crude proteinAbstract
A field experiment was conducted during 1998-99 to 2000-01 at the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi, using different weed-control measures in perennial lucerne (Medicago sativa L.). Pre-emer- gence application of pendimethalin at 0.5 kg/ha with hand-weeding at 6-week-crop stage was found superior to other measures for lower weed dry matter (2.5 tonneslha) and weed intensity (72 weeds/m2), and higher weed- control efficiency (77.2%) without phytotoxic effect on lucerne crop. Moreover, it also produced higher green fod- der (60.7 tonnedha), dry matter (13.2 tonnedha), crude protein (2,192 kglha) yields and plant stand (70 plant/ m2) during first growing season. lmazapyr and metribuzin with and without hand-weeding were found phytotoxic to the lucerne and resulted in lower yields due to poor initial and final plant stand despite, very good in control- ling weeds. Combination of herbicides and hand-weeding resulted in more yields than chemical, mechanical and manual measure alone.References
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