Valuation of Weed Control Methods by using Inter Row Rotary Weeder in Sugarcane Crop

Background: Weeds are one of major threats to crop yield and quality. Weeds compete with cane crop and reduce the yield significantly in a very short period. Planned use of all available farm resources leads to integrated control strategy. The current study aimed to study the use of inter row rotary weeder for integrated weeds management to control population dynamics of weeds in sugarcane crop. The objective of experiment is to find out economical, feasible and easy to use approach to minimize the weed density below the threshold level in sugarcane crop and to minimize the use of chemicals for weeds control to promote organic farming.
Methods: In this research experiment, at Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad during 2017 and 2018, the treatment includes viz. Application od Click (atrazine and acetochlor) @ 3.75 Liter per hectare as Pre-emergence, Ametryn + Atrazine 80 W.P @ 2.50 kg per hectare as post-emergence, Machanical Inter-culture with Rotary weeder and cultivator plough and earthing up. These treatments in different combinations were compared with control.
Result: The application of Pre-emergence weedicide Click (atrazine and acetochlor) @ 3.75 Liter per hectare + Inter culture with Rotary weeder 50 days after planting (DAP) + Inter culture with cultivator plough before earthing up (100 DAP) produced significantly higher cane yield of 105 t. ha-1 and highest net benefits per hectare of Rs. 156250/-. The lowest cane yield of 70 t. ha-1 was noted from the experimental units with Weedy check / control. If farmers use this approach, the use of post emergence weedicides will be minimized and will encourage organic farming with safe and healthy environment.