Clodinafop, Carfentrazone-ethyl, Herbicide efficiency index (HEI), Metribuzin, Weed density

On-farm trials were conducted at farmers’ fields in Ropar and Ferozpur districts of Punjab to validate, refine and popularize the technology developed by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana for managing grassy and broad-leaf weeds in wheat. The objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of clodinafop 60 g/ha and carfentrazone-ethtyl 20 g/ha over farmer practice of using un-recommended herbicides and brands on the infestation of weeds and profitability of wheat in central Punjab. Recommended practice of clodinafop followed by carfentrazone-ethyl resulted in significantly higher grain yield (4.56 and 4.69 t/ha) than other treatments including farmer practice. There was 14.4 and 17.9, 3.4 and 5.7 and 3.0 and 4.3 per cent increase in grain yield with recommended practice over control, metribuzin and farmers’ practice, respectively. The population of grassy weeds was minimum with metribuzin 175 g/ha treatment, which was statistically at par with recommended practice but was significantly lower than other two treatments, whereas the number of broad-leaf weeds was significantly lower with recommended treatment. The herbicide efficiency index (HEI) was highest (16.8 and 21.8) with recommended practice indicating higher efficiency of this treatment in controlling weeds. A slight phytotoxicity was observed with metribuzin which resulted in significant reduction in effective tillers than other herbicidal treatments. Highest B: C ratio (2.45 and 2.77) and net returns (` 45.99 and 52.86 x 103 /ha) were recorded with recommended practice.