Garlic, Herbicide, Straw mulch, Weed management

A field experiment was conducted during, winter seasons 2014-15 and 2015-16 to evaluate the weed management practices in garlic. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design having straw mulch treatments in main plot (0, 5 t/ha and 10 t/ha) and weed control treatment, viz. pendimethalin 1.0 kg/ha (pre-emergence), oxyfluorfen 0.223 kg/ha (pre-emergence) manual weeding (2) and weedy check. Application of mulch at 10 t/ha declined the weed population and recorded significantly lower weed density and higher weed control efficiency (71.65 and 75.17%), and higher growth and yield (2.08 and 2.72 t/ha) of garlic as compared to without mulch treatment. Among the weed control measures, application of oxyfluorfen 0.223 kg/ha recorded significantly lower weed density (55.9 and 70.89 m2) and higher growth and yield (2.05 and 2.53 t/ha) of garlic as compared to weedy check, but it was at par with pendimethalin 1.0 kg/ha application. Maximum BCR (1.19 and 2.18) was recorded under the paddy straw mulch applied at 10 t/ha and oxyfluorfen 0.223 kg/ha (1.11 and 2.14) as pre-emergence application.