Integrated weed management in sunflower

Research was conducted at Instructional farm, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, during summer-2023, to study the effect of integrated weed management in sunflower. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with a total of eight treatments replicated thrice. The treatments included application of pre and post- emergence herbicides as well as mechanical and manual weed control methods. The dominant weed flora found in the experimental site included narrow leaved weeds like Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria ciliaris, Digitaria sanguinalis, Sorghum halepense, Cyperus rotundus, Cyperus iria, Fimbristylis miliacea and broad-leaved weeds like Heliotropium indicum, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Spilanthes acmella and Amaranthus viridis. Weed free treatment recorded highest seed yield (1980 kg/ha) and oil yield (752 kg/ha) which remained at par with One intercultivation at 20 DAS fb one hand weeding at 30 DAS, Two intercultivation at 20 & 40 DAS and Pendimethalin @1.0 kg/ha as PE fb One intercultivation at 30 DAS. The highest yield attributing characters i.e., head diameter (17.4 cm) and 100 seed weight (5.53g) along with highest plant height (190 cm), WCE (80.5%) were recorded in weed free. As compared to other weed management practices, Weed free recorded the highest gross return (Rs.133878/ha) and net return (Rs.57311/ha), but the highest B-C ratio (1.81) was recorded in Pendimethalin @1.0 kg/ha as PE fb One intercultivation at 30 DAS. Hence, Pendimethalin @1.0 kg/ha as PE fb One intercultivation at 30 DAS was the most remunerative weed management practice for achieving higher yield and monetary benefit during summer season.