2024, Vol. 7, Special Issue 9

Background: Blackgram (Vigna mungo) a self-pollinated leguminous crop grown throughout India in both the summer and rainy seasons and contains 24% protein and enriches the soil by fixing up to 70-90 kg of atmospheric nitrogen per hectare. Unchecked weeds have been shown to significantly reduce seed yield, hand weeding is dangerous and unfeasible due to the season-long rain. Chemical weed control emerged as a practical and economical solution for controlling weeds in the production of black grams. Mulching was successful in keeping in-situ moisture and suppressing weeds. Mulching lowers weed growth, slows down soil deterioration, and controls water evaporation, and enhances the physical, chemical, and biological qualities of the soil. The objective of the study was to study the effect of mulching and herbicides on weed dynamics and productivity of Black gram.

Methods: At the Research Farm of KVK Reasi, a field experiment was carried out during the kharif seasons of 2021 and 2022 to examine the effects of mulching and pesticides on weed dynamics, crop growth, yield quality, and yield of black gram (mash).

Result: Ten treatment viz. were included in the RBD design of the trial. T₁: One kilogram of pendimethalin a.i./ha T₂: 0.0575 kg a.i./ha of imimazethapyr, T₃: Ethyl quizalofop at 0.050 kg a.i./ha, T₄: Imazethapyr @ 0.075 kg a.i /ha fb Pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i /ha, T₅: fb Quizalofop-ethyl @ 0.050 kg a.i /ha & pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i /ha T₆: Grasping, T₇: 1 kilogram of pendimethalin a.i./ha fb Three replications of T₈ (hand weeding at 20 and 40 DAS), T₉ (weed free), and T₁₀ (weedy check) were conducted. In terms of weed control efficiency (WCE), two hand weedings at 20 and 40 DAS were found to be highly effective. They also produced the highest crop growth, yield attributes, and seed yield (905 kg/ha), which is comparable to the weed control efficiency (WCE) of pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i /ha fb Mulching, pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i /ha fb Imazethapyr @ 0.075 kg a.i /ha, and pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i /ha fb Quizalofop-ethyl @ 0.050 kg a.i /ha.