APPLICATION OF PRE AND POST EMERGENCE HERBICIDE UNDER IMPROVED FIELD IRRIGATION SYSTEM PROVED A SUSTAINABLE WEED MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN COTTON CROP

Abstract

ABSTRACT Successful weed control in cotton crop is an imperative as weeds not only reduce the cotton production but also deteriorate the lint quality and harbor insect pest. Thus a field study was carried out to evaluate the various weed control strategies under different irrigation systems. Pendimethlin (pre-emergence), S-metolachlor (pre-emergence), glyphosate (post emergence) were used alone or in combination as chemical weedicides along with mechanical weeding under drip and furrow irrigation systems. Results showed that all the weed control treatments with drip irrigation significantly decrease weed density compared with weed control treatments where watering was practiced through furrow irrigation method. However, combined application of pendimethalin with glyphosate and S-metolachlor has significantly reduced the weed density. This combination also resulted in improved bolls per plant, boll weight, sympodial branches, seed cotton yield, ginning out turn, seed index, lint index and water use efficiency. These parameters were also improved under drip irrigation as compared to furrow irrigation system. In a nutshell it can be concluded that combination of post and pre-emergence herbicides improved the cotton lint yield and water productivity which can be further improved by adopting drip irrigation as appropriate irrigation system.