2008 A P P L I E D A N D N A T U R A L S C I E N C E F O U N D A T I O N ANSF JANS Journal of Applied and Natural Science 9 (1): 539 - 543 (2017) Weed control in soybean (Glycine max L.) through resource management strategies and its influence on yield and nutrient uptake Aradhana Bali 1* , B. R. Bazaya 2 and Sandeep Rawal 1 1 Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University , Hisar– 125004(Haryana), INDIA 2 Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu– 180009 (J&K), INDIA *Corresponding author. E-mail: baliaradhana13@gmail.com Received: June 4, 2016; Revised received: December 15, 2016; Accepted: February 20, 2017 Abstract: A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2011 at Research Farm, Sher-e-Kashmir Uni- versity of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Jammu to evaluate the effect of weed management prac- tices on yield and nutrient uptake of soybean utilizing different resource management strategies. The lowest weed density and dry matter of weeds was recorded with hand weeding at 15 and 35 days after sowing (DAS) which was equally effective as imazethapyr @ 75 g ha -1 (PoE) fb hoeing at 35 DAS and quizalofop-ethyl @ 40 g ha -1 (PoE) fb hoeing at 35 DAS. All weed control treatments had significant effect on yield and nutrient up- take of soybean. Among the different weed control treatments, lowest N, P and K uptake by weeds were recorded in hand - weeding (15 and 35 DAS) which was statistically at par with imazethapyr @ 75 g ha -1 fb hoeing at 35 DAS. The maximum uptake by seed and straw were recorded in weed free which was statistically at par with twice hand weeding at 15 and 35 DAS, imazethapyr @ 75 g ha -1 fb hoeing at 35 DAS and quizalofop- ethyl @ 40 g ha -1 fb hoeing at 35 DAS. The highest seed and straw yield of soybean was harvested with hand- weeding (15 and 35 DAS) followed by imazethapyr @ 75 g ha -1 fb hoeing at 35 DAS. For the first time, soybean crop has been introduced in Jammu region for research purpose. Weed management varies with agro - climatic conditions. The study would be helpful to understand weed menace in this particular climatic condition of Jammu and to manage them combinedly and efficiently. Keywords: Nutrient uptake, Resource management, Soybean, Weed control, Yield INTRODUCTION Soybean (Glycine max L.) is a globally important oilseed crop. In India, it is grown on an area of 108.83 lakh ha with an annual production of 104.36 lakh mil- lion tones (SOPA, 2014). It is highly nutritive crop which is very useful to meet the nutritional require- ment of the escalating population but, being a rainy season crop soybean faces severe weed competition during early stages of crop growth, resulting in a loss of about 40-60 per cent of the potential yield, depend- ing on the weed intensity, nature, environmental condi- tion and duration of weed competition. Besides, weed removes 30-60 kg nitrogen, 8-10 kg phosphorous and 40-100 kg potash per hectare from soil (Mishra et al., 2002). Use of herbicides not only controlled weeds, improved crop yield but also increased the availability of labor for other productive uses. Alone application of herbicides do not provide season long control of weeds. Therefore, combination of different weed man- agement practices is a desired solution that aims at reducing the dosage of herbicide to be applied to soil in combination with mechanical weeding, which will ISSN : 0974-9411 (Print), 2231-5209 (Online) All Rights Reserved © Applied and Natural Science Foundation www.jans.ansfoundation.org help in managing weeds in a best way to sustain and boost the production of soybean. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study sites: A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2011 at Research Farm, Sher -e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Tech- nology, Chatha, Jammu. The soil was characterized as sandy-loam in texture and alkaline in reaction (pH 7.7). It was low in organic carbon content (0.39 %) and nitrogen (240 kg ha -1 ) and medium in phosphorus (12.12 kg ha -1 ) and high in available potassium (134 kg ha -1 ). The experiment comprised of twelve treatments comprising weedy check, weed free, hand-weeding at 15 and 35 days after sowing (DAS), hoeing at 15 and 35 days after sowing, fluchloralin @ 1.0 kg ha -1 (PPI), pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg ha -1 (PRE), imazethapyr @ 100 g ha -1 (PoE), quizalofop-ethyl @ 50 g ha -1 (PoE), fluchloralin @ 0.75 kg ha -1 (PPI) fb hoeing at 35 days after sowing, pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg ha -1 (PRE) fb hoeing at 35 days after sowing, quizalofop-ethyl @ 40 g ha -1 (PoE) fb hoeing at 35 days after sowing and imazethapyr @ 75 g ha -1 (PoE) fb hoeing at 35 days