The sweet pepper (Capsicum
annuum L.), also known as bell pepper, pepper, or capsicum, is one of the most delicious vegetables which consumed throughout the world as fresh in salad and culinary purpose also due to its great taste and appearance
(Akinfasoye et al., 2006). It belongs to the nightshade
i.e., Solanaceae family. Sweet pepper is assuming importance in human diet since it is rich in vitamins like A, C, E, B
1, B
2, D and minerals (
Muhamman and Auwalu, 2008). However, there are several biotic and abiotic stresses which diminish its quality and yield. Weeds are major biotic factors that cause great yield loss of sweet pepper
(Chaudhari et al., 2019). Estimates have shown that the yield of vegetables can be reduced by 45% to 95% due to crop-weed competition
(Mennan et al., 2020). The emergence of weeds is very fast and they grow rapidly competing with the crop for growth resources
viz., moisture, nutrients, sunlight and space during the entire vegetative and early stages of
C.
annuum (Hajebi et al., 2015). Weeds not only reduce the yield of vegetables but also decrease their quality and market value
(Brown et al., 2019).
Weed control using herbicides has been an economical option in conventional vegetable production systems because it provides effective and sustainable weed control (
Chauhan, 2020). However, overuse of herbicides causes environmental concerns owing to their possible negative effects on beneficial organisms
(Wallia et al., 2006) and residual toxicity (
Kropff and Walter, 2000). There has been a greater interest in non-chemical weed control after people became more aware of the damage caused by the misuse of herbicides (
Jabran and Chauhan 2018). Besides chemical methods of weed management, weeds can be controlled using mechanical or other methods such as mulching and using different planting techniques
(Bahadur et al., 2013).
Mulching is a simple and valuable technique that can be used to control weeds, save time and reduce labor. Mulching suppresses weed development by obscuration and suffocation. The probable reason could be that it might create partially anaerobic conditions for the survival of weed species and thus finally resulting in very low weed population
(Bhullar et al., 2015). Mulching is viewed as fundamental in rainfed smallholder cultivation because of the several benefits they provide to the rhizosphere
(Sangakkara et al., 2004). Black and infrared transmissible (IRT) plastic mulch provided almost 100% control of weed grasses. Mulching favors the reduction of evaporation leading to higher soil moisture content and reduction in weed growth which overall increase crop yield
(Samtani et al., 2017).
Raised bed planting system has many benefits like water savings (up to 30%) combined with enhanced water use efficiency, improvement in soil physical property, nitrogen use efficiency, better utilization of sunlight, low crop-weed completion and ultimately enhancement in crop yield
(Kumar et al., 2010). Raised bed planting had a maximum reduction in weed biomass than a flat-bed because in this method water was applied in furrows only and the rest of the area was always dry which did not permit much weed growth, so less interference of weeds in crop growth increases the yield
(Bahadur et al., 2013).
Flower and fruit drop are considered as major constraints in the production of sweet pepper which is caused by physiological and hormonal imbalance particularly under unfavorable environments (
Erickson and Makhart, 2001). Naphthalene acetic acid was found effective in increasing fruit set and is also used in reducing pre-harvest fruit drop and resulting in a higher number of fruits and yield
(Akhter et al., 2018). The application of Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) resulted in vigorous growth of the crop (increase size and number of leaves). Better growth and development of crop might have provided stiff competition between crops and weeds resulting into poor growth of weeds. Such situations might have resulted in minimum or reduced growth of weeds. Further, better canopy spread of the crop might have restricted the light required for proper photosynthesis by the weeds resulting in shortage of carbohydrates which could be another reason for reduced growth and development of weeds (
Bijalwan, 2020). Hence the present study was undertaken with an objective to compare the performance of two planting methods
i.e., raised bed and flat-bed planting, three sources of mulch i.e., black polythene mulch, silver polythene mulch and no mulch and NAA 15 ppm at 30 and 45 days after transplanting and no NAA application in managing weeds and increase in sweet pepper yield.
