Effect of Weed Management Practices in Sorghum under Rainfed Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2025 at the College Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences, Malla Reddy University, Hyderabad, to evaluate the efficacy and economic performance of different weed management practices in rainfed sorghum. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with eight treatments and three replications using sorghum hybrid Suvarna-303. The treatments included weed management practices viz., Atrazine, Pendimethalin, Halosulfuron methyl + Atrazine, 2,4-D Amine salt, hand weeding, intercultivation, weed free and weedy check  Among the weed management practices, sequential application of atrazine @ 1.0 kg ha⁻¹ as PE followed by 2,4-D amine salt @ 0.75 kg ha⁻¹ at 20 DAS + intercultivation at 40 DAS (T₆) recorded the lower weed population and dry weight, along with higher weed control efficiency. The same treatment resulted in significantly higher yield attributes, grain (4758 kg ha⁻¹) and stover yield (7772 kg ha⁻¹) compared with other herbicidal treatments, and was comparable with weed-free treatment. It also recorded the highest gross returns (₹1, 51,395 ha⁻¹), net returns (₹83993 ha⁻¹) and B:C ratio (2.25). Thus, sequential application of atrazine @ 1.0 kg ha⁻¹ as PE followed by 2,4-D amine salt @ 0.75 kg ha⁻¹ at 20 DAS + intercultivation at 40 DAS was found to be an effective and economically viable weed management practice for improving productivity and profitability of kharif sorghum under rainfed situations.