EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MULCHES AND HERBICIDES ON POTATO AND ASSOCIATED WEEDS

An experiment was conducted in 2008 at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar in RCB design. The treatments included in the experiment were Roundup 480 SL @ 0.47, Sencor 70WP @ 0.75 kg a.i. ha^^-1, plastic mulches (both black and white), organic mulches (wheat straw @ 5 t ha^-1 and saw dust @ 6 t ha^-1), a hand weeding and a no weeding treatment. Highest fresh weed biomass of 130.9 g m^-2 was found in weedy check which was statistically at par with saw dust treatment (114.3), while the lowest fresh biomass of weeds was found in hand weeding (10.2 g m-2) followed by glyphosate (13.23 g m-2) and metribuzin (22.17 g m-2). Similarly, dry biomass of weeds was the highest in weedy check plots (30.63 g m-2) and the lowest dry biomass was found in hand weeding, glyphosate and metribuzin (2.42, 3.05 and 5.35 g m^-2, respectively). The largest tuber diameter was recorded in hand weeded plots (5.14 cm) followed by glyphosate treated plots (4.99 cm). The yield was the highest in hand weeding and glyphosate treatments (13750 and 13580 kg ha^-1, respectively). The herbicide treated plots were better in economic return as compared to the mulches and hand weeding practices; however among the herbicides the most remunerative treatments were metribuzin and glyphosate.