A field study was conducted during the kharif season of 2024 at the Agronomy Farm, College of Agriculture, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, to evaluate the impact of various pre- and post-emergence herbicides on soybean yield and economic returns. The experiment followed a randomized block design with eight treatments: T1 (unweeded control), T2 (completely weed-free), T3 (Sulfentrazone 28% + Clomazone 30% PE WP at 750 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by Fluazifop-p-butyl 11.1% + Fomesafen 11.1% POE SL at 25 g a.i ha⁻¹ at 25 DAS), T4 (Sulfentrazone 28% + Clomazone 30% PE WP at 750 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by Propaquizafop 2.5% + Imazethapyr 3.75% POE ME at 125 g a.i ha⁻¹ at 25 DAS), T5 (Sulfentrazone 28% + Clomazone 30% PE WP at 750 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by manual hoeing and weeding at 25 DAS), T6 (Pendimethalin 38.7% PE CS at 580 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by Fluazifop-p-butyl 11.1% + Fomesafen 11.1% POE SL at 25 g a.i ha⁻¹ at 25 DAS), T7 (Pendimethalin 38.7% PE CS at 580 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by Propaquizafop 2.5% + Imazethapyr 3.75% POE ME at 125 g a.i ha⁻¹ at 25 DAS), and T8 (Pendimethalin 38.7% PE CS at 580 g a.i ha⁻¹ followed by one hoeing and hand weeding at 25 DAS). Each treatment was replicated three times.
The findings indicated that among all herbicidal treatments, T3 (application of Sulfentrazone + Clomazone followed by Fluazifop-p-butyl + Fomesafen) resulted in significantly higher seed yield, straw yield per hectare, gross monetary returns, net monetary returns, and benefit-cost ratio. However, T5 (Sulfentrazone + Clomazone followed by hoeing and weeding) and T6 (Pendimethalin followed by Fluazifop-p-butyl + Fomesafen) were statistically at par with T3 in terms of performance.
