EVALUATION OF WEED MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN AUTUMN POTATO CROP

Cardinal variety of potato was grown in autumn of 2003-04 and 2004-05 at Agricultural Research Institute, Dera IsmailKhan. The trials were laid out in a randomized complete blockdesign with five treatments and three replications. Treatmentsincluded; Sencor 70WP @ 625 g ha-1, Galaxy @ 1.5 L ha-1 andDual Gold @ 2.0 L ha-1, Manual weeding once after 45 days ofplanting and the weedy check. Tubers were planted in ridges 75cm apart and all the herbicides were sprayed three days afterplanting. Plant growth in chemical treated plots and the plotswith manual weeding was significantly improved as comparedto the growth in the weedy check. It was observed that all theweed management plots produced significantly higherpercentage of large tubers. While leaving the weeds throughoutthe season (Weedy check) resulted in maximum percentage ofsmall tubers. Controlling the weed chemically or manuallysignificantly improved the marketable yield as compared toweedy-check. Significantly lower population of weeds wasrecorded in weed-controlled plots at the end of growing season.At the end of growing season weeds found during the two yearstudy were Anagallis arvensis (47.54 and 39.56%), Cyperusrotundus (13.11 and 18.68%), Convolvulus arvensis (9.84 and12.09%), Chenopodium album (6.56 and 6.59%), Rumexdentatus (3.28 and 4.40%), Cynodon dactylon (6.56 and6.59%) and Meliotus indica (13.11 and 12.09%), respectively.