ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF WEED MANAGEMENT THROUGH TILLAGE, HERBICIDES AND HAND WEEDING IN IRRIGATED WHEAT

Field experiment was conducted at Research Farm, Faculty ofAgriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistanduring Rabi 2007-08 to evaluate the economic impact ofdifferent tillage depths and herbicides including hand weedingfor controlling weeds in wheat. The experiment was laid out inrandomized complete block design with split plot arrangementreplicated four times. The treatments used were three tillagedepth viz. shallow (5.5-7 cm), medium (10 cm) and deeptillage (20-25 cm) assigned to main plots, while five herbicides(2,4-D amine @ 1L ha-1, Topik 15 WP @ 0.09 kg a.i ha-1, 2,4-D+ Topik (clodinafop), hand weeding thrice (20, 35 and 50 daysafter sowing) and untreated weedy check was assigned tosubplots. Data were recorded on fresh weed biomass (FWB),dry weed biomass (DWB), tillers m-2, wheat biomass (t ha-1),harvest index (H.I %), cost of production, net benefit andbenefit cost ratio (BCR). Deep tillage (DT) exhibited the bestperformance, with maximum tillers m-2 (276), maximum wheatbiomass (12.2 t ha-1), maximum net benefit (Rs.55526 ha-1),and minimum FWB (37.1 g m-2) and DWB (1.2 g m-2)compared to shallow (ST) and medium tillage (MT). Handweeding had the highest tillers m-2 (274), wheat biomass (12.9t ha-1), and net benefit (Rs.61563 ha-1) compared to otherherbicidal treatments. 2,4-D + Topik had the minimum FWB(3.8 g m-2), minimum DWB (1.2 g m-2), and maximum BCR(3.7:1). DT in combination with either hand weeding ormixture of 2,4-D + Topik was more economical despite highercost of production compared to other tillage and herbicidaltreatments.