Research Article Open Access Tesfay et al., Adv Crop Sci Tech 2014, 2:5 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2329-8863.1000151 Research Article Open Access Advances in Crop Science and Technology Volume 2 • Issue 5 • 1000151 Adv Crop Sci Tech ISSN: 2329-8863 ACST, an open access journal Keywords: Atrazine; Nicosulfuron; Primagram; Silwet gold; Zea mays Introduction Te major constraints of maize production in Ethiopia include both biotic (weeds, plant pathogens, insect pests, rodents, wild animals) and abiotic factors (drought, hailstorm, food, nutrient defciency, soil type, topographic features) [1]. Weed infestation is supreme importance among biotic factors that are responsible for low maize grain yield. Worldwide maize production is hampered up to 40% by competition from weeds which are the most important pest group of this crop [2]. Generally weeds reduce crop yields by competing for light, nutrients, water and carbon dioxide as well as interfering with harvesting and increasing the cost involved in crop production. Overall, weeds impose the highest loss potential (37%), which is higher than the loss potentials due to animal pests (18%), fungal and bacterial pathogens (16%) and viruses (2%) [3]. Kebede [4] reported that most farmers in Ethiopia commonly lose up to 40, 30, 35, 18 and 30% of yield in maize, sorghum, wheat, barley and tef, respectively, due to weed infestations. Weeds have a more direct infuence on human beings than any other pest in developing countries like Ethiopia. Weeds not only cause severe crop losses but also compete with farmers and their families to spend a considerable amount of their time on weeding [5]. More than 50% of labor time is devoted to weeding, and is mainly done by the women and children in the farmer’s family [6,7]. In the hand hoe system, weeding alone accounts for 40-54% of the total labor input in farming in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia, requiring 300-400 man-hours per hectare [8]. In most cases, farmers are unable to do their weeding on time due to limitations on family labor. According to Unger [9], the taller and more numerous the weeds are in relation to the crop, the stronger is the competition. Weed competition in a cereal generally reduces crop vigor, tillers, head size, kernel weight and, consequently, grain yield. Control of weeds in the felds of maize is, therefore, very essential for obtaining good crop-harvest. Weed control practices in maize resulted in 77 to 96.7% higher grain yield than the weedy check. Diferent weed control methods have been used to manage the weeds but mechanical and chemical methods are more frequently used for the control of weeds than any other control methods. Mechanical methods including hand weeding are still useful but are getting expensive, laborious and time-consuming. In the less developed countries, the situation still exists where the peak labor requirement is ofen for hand weeding [10]. Herbicides weed control is an important alternative to manual weeding because it is cheaper, faster and gives better weed control [3]. Chemical control is a better alternative to manual weeding because it is cheaper, faster, and gives better control [2,11]. Weed control in maize with herbicides has been suggested by researchers [12,13]. Ali et al. [14] also reported that herbicides signifcantly increased maize yield and decreased the weed density. However, continuous application of currently registered herbicides caused changing weed fora, poor controlling, and evolution of some herbicide resistant weed biotypes. Tis necessitates the introduction of some other new herbicide options with diferent modes of action. Terefore, this research work was carried out to evaluate the efect of new herbicide (Nicosulfron) on weeds and yield and yield components of maize under feld condition at Guder and Ambo district, West Shoa, Ethiopia. Materials and Methods Location of study areas Field experiments were conducted at two diferent areas viz. Guder and Ambo in maize cultivated feld, West Showa, Ethiopia during *Corresponding author: Mohammed Amin, Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Ambo University, Ethiopia, Tel: 0922811664; E-mail: yonis_1986@yahoo.com Received: June 17, 2014; Accepted: November 29, 2014; Published: December 01, 2014 Citation: Tesfay A, Amin M, Mulugeta N (2014) Management of Weeds in Maize (Zea mays L.) through Various Pre and Post Emergency Herbicides. Adv Crop Sci Tech 2: 151. doi:10.4172/2329-8863.1000151 Copyright: © 2014 Tesfay A, 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 Field experiments were conducted in 2013 during main cropping season at Ambo and Guder to determine the effect of different post and pre emergency herbicides application on weed dynamics in maize (Zea mays L.) variety, BH-660 in randomized complete block design with three replications. Six treatments including Nicosulfuron (Arrow 75 WDG) at 0.09 kgha -1 + silwet gold (adjuvant) at 0.10%, S -metolachlor 290 + Atrazine (Primagram) at 3.00 kgha - 1 , s-metolachlor (dual gold) 1.5 kgha -1 , hand weeding as standard check and weedy check as control were used. Effect of different herbicides on weed density was signifcant. The lowest weed density was recorded in plot treated with hand weeding and hoeing (3.12 m -2 ) followed by Nicosulfuron (18.67 m -2 ) and Primagram (3.88 m -2 ). But, the maximum was recorded in weedy check (14.16 m -2 ). However, no signifcant difference was observed between Nicosulfuron and Primagram. The minimum dry weight of weeds (0.77 gm -2 ) was observed in hand weeding and hoeing followed by Nicosulfuron which is not signifcantly different from s-metolachlor. Moreover, those treatments also signifcantly increased the yield and yield component of maize. This is an indication of the reliability and promise as well as the exhibition of the great potential of the Nicosulfuron is the effective control of the weeds and enhancing yield of maize in Guder and Ambo, Ethiopia. Management of Weeds in Maize (Zea mays L.) through Various Pre and Post Emergency Herbicides Amare Tesfay, Mohammed Amin* and Negeri Mulugeta Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Ambo University, Ethiopia