Productivity of transplanted rice as influenced by weed control methods

Rigorous research efforts are being made by scientists around the world to evolve different strategies for improving rice yield. Most of the improved crop management practices in rice cultivation failed due to poor and improper practices for containing weeds. At present, no single approach, that is, uses of herbicides or manual or mechanical weeding is effective in containing the weed menace. Hence, the present investigation was aimed to study the influence of integrated weed control (chemical + hand weeding) on the productivity of transplanted rice. Ten weed control treatments like application of herbicides alone and their integration with one-hand weeding, two-hand weeding and unweeded check were tested in randomised block design with three replications. The highest weed control efficiency (90 and 93%) and maximum grain yield (5831 and 8783 kg ha -1 ) were recorded under two-hand weeding during both years respectively which was at par with post emergence application of bispyribac sodium 25 g ai ha -1 supplemented with hand weeding at 45 DAT. Uncontrolled weed growth reduced grain yield to the tune of 47.02 and 53.79% during 2011 to 2012 and 2012 to 2013, respectively.