Research Article Open Access Mathukia et al., Adv Crop Sci Tech 2014, 2:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2329-8863.1000139 Research Article Open Access Advances in Crop Science and Technology Adv Crop Sci Tech ISSN: 2329-8863 ACST, an open access journal Keywords: Sweet corn; Zea mays L. var. saccharata Sturt; Atrazine; Pendimethalin; Oxadiargyl, 2, 4-D. Introduction Maize is considered as the “Queen of Cereals”. Being a C 4 plant, it is capable to utilize solar radiation more efciently even at higher radiation intensity. In Indian agriculture, maize assumes a special signifcance on account of its utilization as food, feed and fodder besides several industrial uses. Sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata Sturt), also called Indian corn, sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Nature of weed problem in rabi maize is quite diferent from that of the rainy season maize. In the rainy season emergence of maize and weed start simultaneously and frst 20- 30 days are most critical looking to crop-weed competition. Contrarily in the winter maize, weed emerges most ofen afer the frst irrigation. However, wider row spacing and liberal use of irrigation and fertilizers lead to more growth of weeds [1]. Yield loss due to weed in maize varies from 28 to 93%, depending on the type of weed fora and intensity and duration of crop-weed competition [2]. Pre-emergence application of herbicides may lead to cost efective control of the weeds right from the start which otherwise may not be possible by manual weeding. Te study was carried out to fnd economically efective method of weed control for realising higher productivity and proftability of rabi sweet corn. Materials and Methods Te experiment was carried out at Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh (Gujarat, India) during rabi-2010-11. Te experimental soil was clayey in texture and low in available N and P, and moderate in available potash. Sweet corn variety ‘Sugar-75’ was used in the experiment. Te temperature ranged from 9.7 to 20.6°C during rabi season. Te crop was sown on 11 th December with the seed rate of 15 kg/ha at spacing of 60 cm x 20 cm. Standard package of practices was followed throughout the cropping season. Te crop was harvested on 27 th March. To evolve integrated weed management, pre-emergence (PRE) herbicides viz., atrazine, pendimethalin and oxadiargyl were combined either with hand weeding (HW) and interculturing (IC) or with post- emergence (POST) herbicide 2, 4-D (SS) to evolve integrated weed management. Te experiment comprised nine treatments, namely, (1) Atrazine @ 0.5 kg a.i./ha as PRE+HW & IC at 30 days afer sowing (DAS), (2) Pendimethalin @ 0.9 kg a.i./ha as PRE+HW & IC at 30 DAS, (3) Oxadiargyl @ 90 g a.i./ha as PRE+HW & IC at 30 DAS, (4) Atrazine @ 0.5 kg a.i./ha as PRE+2,4-D (SS) @ 0.5 kg a.i./ha as POST at 30 DAS, (5) Pendimethalin @ 0.9 kg a.i./ha as PRE+2,4-D (SS) @ 0.5 kg a.i./ha as POST at 30 DAS, (6) Oxadiargyl @ 90 g a.i./ha as PRE+2,4-D (SS) @ 0.5 kg a.i./ha as POST at 30 DAS, (7) HW & IC twice at 15 & 30 DAS, (8) weed free and (9) weedy check, were replicated thrice in randomized block design. Pre-emergence herbicides were applied next day of sowing and post-emergence herbicide was sprayed at 30 DAS. Te spraying was done using knapsack sprayer with fat fan nozzle keeping spray volume of 500 L/ha. Weeding was done by labours and interculturing was done by bullock drawn harrow in between two rows of the crop. In manual weed control treatments, weeds were uprooted and removed at 30 DAS as per treatment. In weed free plots, the weeds were removed manually afer every seven days for ensuring complete weed free condition. *Corresponding author: Mathukia RK, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362001, Gujarat, India, Tel: 7600455459, E-mail: rkmathukia@jau.in Received: March 24, 2014; Accepted: September 27, 2014; Published: September 29, 2014 Citation: Dobariya VK, Mathukia RK, Gohil BS, Chhodavadia SK (2014) Integrated Weed Management in Rabi Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. var. Saccharata). Adv Crop Sci Tech 2: 139. doi:10.4172/2329-8863.1000139 Copyright: © 2014 Dobariya VK, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract A feld experiment was conducted during rabi 2010-11 at Junagadh (Gujarat, India) to fnd out most effcient and economical method of weed control in rabi sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata Sturt). The pre-emergence (PRE) herbicides viz., atrazine, pendimethalin and oxadiargyl were combined either with hand weeding (HW) and interculturing (IC) or with post-emergence (POST) herbicide 2, 4-D (SS) to evolve integrated weed management. The weed fora of the experimental site constituted Digera arvensis, Cyperus rotundus, Brachiaria spp., Asphodelus tenuifolius, Indigofera glandulosa, Amaranthus viridis, Acanthospermum hispidum, Panicum colonum, Launaea nudicaulis, Euphorbia hirta, Chenopodium album, Portulaca oleracea, Dactyloctenium aegyptium and Celosia argentea. The results revealed that physical methods viz., weed free, HW and IC twice at 15 and 30 days after sowing (DAS) as well as integrated methods viz., atrazine @ 0.5 kg a.i. /ha as PRE+HW and IC at 30 DAS and pendimethalin @ 0.9 kg a.i. /ha as PRE+HW and IC at 30 DAS signifcantly enhanced growth and yield attributes ultimately higher cob and fodder yields over unweeded check. The treatments viz., weed free, HW and IC twice at 15 and 30 DAS, atrazine @ 0.5 kg a.i. /ha as PRE+HW and IC at 30 DAS, and pendimethalin @ 0.9 kg a.i. /ha as PRE+HW and IC at 30 DAS also recorded the lower weed population at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest, dry weight of weed at harvest with lower weed index and higher weed control effciency and herbicidal effciency index. These treatments were found economical by recording higher net returns and B: C ratio compared to unweeded check. Integrated Weed Management in Rabi Sweet Corn (Zea mays L. var. Saccharata) Mathukia RK 2 * , Dobariya VK 1 , Gohil BS 1 and Chhodavadia SK 1 1 Ph.D.Scholars Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362001 Gujarat, India 2 Associate Research Scientist, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362001, Gujarat, India