J. Env. Bio-Sci., 2014: Vol.

28 (2): 203-206 ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)

STUDIES ON CHEMICAL AND CONVENTIONAL WEED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON

GROWTH AND YIELD OF KHARIF ONION (ALLIUM CEPA L.)
Okesh Chandrakar, Amit Dixit, Praveen Kumar Sharma and Omesh Takur
Department of Horticulture, IGKV Raipur (C.G.)
email:okeshchandrakar123@gmail.com

Received: 10-01-2014 Accepted: 17-02-2014

An experiment was carried out to study on chemical and conventional weed management practices on growth and yield
of kharif onion (Allium cepa L.) was conducted in kharif seasons of years 2013-14 in a randomized block design with nine
treatments having combinations of hand weeding with application of Pendimethalin 1.0 kg/ha, Oxyfluorfen 0.25 kg/ha and Quizalofop-
P-Ethyl 0.25 kg/ha. Weed management with their four hand weeding at 30, 45 60, and 75 DAT recorded significantly lowest weed
density, dry weight of weed and higher weed control efficiency and maximum in all the growth and yield attributes of onion viz. plant
height, number of leaf, leaf length, bulb weight, bulb diameter and bulb yield. Highest net monetary returns and B:C ratio (7.04) were
obtained with the application of Pendimethalin pre- transplanting @ 1.25 kg ha-1followed by Pendimethalin @ 1.25 kg ha-1 at 30
DAT which was found practically more convenient and economically feasible weed management method for kharif onion.

Onion is one of the most important commercial vegetable crops
grown all over the world. In India onion occupies about 1052.00
thousand ha-1 area with a production of 168113.10 thousand
tones and productivity 16.00 t/ha1 . Onion has culinary, dietary
and medicinal importance in daily life of Indian people and due
to its export trade2, it is also a major vegetable crop to gain
foreign currency. Onion crop is slow growing, shallow rooted,
narrow, upright leaves and non branching habit. Due to this
type of growing habit, onion crop cannot compete well with
weeds. In addition to this, frequent irrigation water and fertilizer
application allows for successive flushes of weeds in onion.
Yield loss due to weed infestation in onion3 is to the tune of 55
to 80%.The conventional methods of weed control (hoeing and
weeding) are laborious, expensive and insufficient. Moreover,
weeding during critical growth stages is very difficult due to
increased cost of human labours and its scarce availability.
On the other hand, use of herbicides alone does not prove
effective for weed control due to their spectrum of weed kill.
Hence an attempt was made to find out the appropriate
combination of cultural and chemical weed management
practices for weed control in onion, which is practically effective
and economically feasible for farmers.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The field experiment was conducted at Research and
Instructional Farm, Department of Horticulture, Indira Gandhi
Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.) during kharif season of
2013-14. The soil of experimental field was Clay with pH (7.02)
organic carbon 0.58%, available N, P and K were 219.00,
14.70, 360.40 Kg/ha -1,The nine treatment of different
combination of weedicides as (T1) Oxyfluorfen 23.5% EC Pre-
transplanting @ 0.25 kg ha-1 followed by Oxyfluorfen 23.5%
EC @ 0.25 kg ha-1 at 30 DAT, (T2) Oxyfluorfen 23.5% EC Pre-
transplanting @ 0.25 kg ha-1 followed by Quizalofop-P-Ethyl
5% EC @ 0.5 kg ha-1at 30 DAT, (T3) Combined spray of
Oxyfluorfen 0.125 kg ha -1and Quizalofop-P-Ethyl 0.25 kg
ha-1 Pre-transplanting and second application30 DAT, (T4)
Pendimethalin 30.0% EC (PT @ 1.25 kg ha-1 followed by
Pendimethalin 30.0% EC @ 1.25 kg ha-1 at 30 DAT, (T5)
Pendimethalin 30.0% EC Pre-transplanting @ 1.25 kg ha-1
followed by Quizalofop-P-Ethyl 5% EC @ 0.5 kg ha-1at 30
DAT, (T6) Combined spray of Pendimethalin 0.625 kg ha-1 and
Quizalofop-P-Ethyl 0.25 Pre-transplanting @ 0.25 kg ha-1and
Hand Weeding at 30 - 60 DAT, (T7) Recommended practices
Oxyfluorfen 23.5% EC Pre-transplanting @ 0.25 kg ha-1 and
hand weeding at 30 - 60 DAT, (T8) Hand Weeding at 30, 60,
and 90 DAT, (T9) Weed Check, were replicated three times in
randomized block design. Two months old Seedling of onion
'Nasik Red' were transplanted in the month of August during
2013 at a spacing of 15cm × 10 cm. All the recommended
package of practices was followed for raising the good onion
crop, weed density and dry weight of weeds were recorded at
60 days after transplanting of crop by placing a quadrat of
0.25m2 randomly from three places in each plot. Weed control
efficiency was calculated by the formula given below:-
 Studies on Chemical and Conventional Weed Management Practices (204)

Table-1. Effect of chemical and conventional weed management on various weed parameters related to
onion crop.

[*fb=followed by, PT=Pre-transplanting, DAT= Date after transplanting, HW=Hand weeding]

Table-2. Effect of chemical and conventional weed management on various growth parameters related to
onion crop.

[*fb=followed by, PT=Pre-transplanting, DAT= Date after transplanting, HW=Hand weeding]

(205) Chandrakar, Dixit, Sharma and Takur

Table-3. Effect of chemical and conventional weed management practices on various economic
parameters related to onion crop.

[*fb=followed by, PT=Pre-transplanting, DAT= Date after transplanting, HW=Hand weeding]

experimental plot were Cyprus rotundas, Cynodon dactylon,

WCE (%) =
Where, DMC is dry matter weight of weeds in the control plot
and DMT is dry matter weight of weeds in treated plot. Data on
growth attributes were recorded from 30 DAT up to harvest
from 5 randomly selected plants, whereas the peak growth
study at 60 days after transplanting were mention in the table.
However, yield attributes and yield data recorded from net plot
at harvest. For economic study, prevailing market price was
used for different outputs and inputs. The result was observed
during 2013-14 for all the characters. Hence the analysis was
done for the results and discussion.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effect on weeds: The prominent weed species in the
Echinochloa crusgali, Alternanthera triandra, Amranthus
viridis, Parthenium hysterophorus, Physalis minima, Medicago
denticulata, Portulaca oleraceae all treatments showed
significant reduction in total weed density and dry weight of
weeds as compared to unweeded control during the years
(Table-1). Significantly lower weed density was observed with
the treatment of four hand weeding at 30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS.
It was on par with the treatment Pendimethalin 30.0% EC
(PT) @ 1.25 a.i. kg ha-1 followed by Pendimethalin 30.0% EC
@ 1.25 a.i. kg ha-1 at 30 DAT. Highest weed density and dry
weight of weeds was recorded in treatment weedy check.
Treatment of four hand weeding at 30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS
showed highest weed control efficiency followed by the
 Studies on Chemical and Conventional Weed Management Practices (206)

treatment Pendimethalin 30.0% EC Pre-transplanting @ 1.25 application of Pendimethalin Pre-transplanting @ 1.25 kg ha1
a.i. kg ha-1 followed by Pendimethalin 30.0% EC (PT) @ 1.25 followed by Pendimethalin @ 1.25 kg ha1 at 30 DAT with
a.i. kg ha-1 at 30 DAT. In case of weed management in onion benefit: cost ratio of (7.04) Though weeds were controlled more
combination of chemical and conventional weed control is found efficiently and bulb yield production was highest in treatment
to be effective (PPI) of pendimethalin causes reduction in four, hand weeding at 30, 45, 60 and 75 DAT, its cost of
germination of total weed population during initial period of cultivation was also higher (64902/-) because of the higher
crop growth, further the application of oxyfluorfen might have human labour requirement and their higher wages. The cost of
controlled the first flush of broad leaf weeds in onion, when human labours for controlling weeds was reduced with
applied at 30 DAT. be efficient for the control of remaining application of pre and post emergence herbicides in
grassy weeds and second flush of broad leaf weeds. This was combination with hand weeding, which was responsible for
also in consonant with results obtained by the early workers4, 5. reduction in total cost of cultivation, resulting maximum B: C
Effect on crop growth and yield attributes: W eed ratio in treatment Pendimethalin Pre-transplanting @ 1.25 kg
management treatments under investigation showed ha-1followed by Pendimethalin @ 1.25 kg ha-1at 30 DAT. All
significantly superiority over control in respect of all growth this economic parameters were found minimum under weedy
and yield attributes of onion during the years (Table-2). Highest check. Economical parameters of onion in respect of methods
growth attributes (viz. plants height, number of leaf, bulb weight of weed control were also studied by other workers on the
and bulb diameter) were observed with four hand weeding at basis of the experimentation, it was concluded that application
30, 45 60, and 75 DAT. However application of Pendimethalin of Pendimethalin Pre-transplanting @1.25 kg ha-1followed by
(PT) @ 1.25 kg ha-1 followed by Pendimethalin @ 1.25 kg ha-1at Pendimethalin @ 1.25 kg ha-1at 30 DAT is more efficient10, 11,
30 DAT was at second place in respect of all these attributes. practically convenient and economically feasible method for
Similar trend was observed in respect of dry matter per plant. weed controlling onion.
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