Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most important grain legume crop in the world and the first important legume in the South and West Asia. For Bulgaria the chickpea is an old traditional crop used mainly for human consumption and to a lesser extent for feed. One of the most important yield limiting factors in the chickpea seed production is the poor weed management. The establishment of the most appropriate herbicide or herbicide combination for the effective control especially of the weed flora is a priority task of the chickpea cultivation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different herbicides and herbicidal combinations on weed flora and on the chickpea yield. The herbicides and herbicidal combinations were tested in nine treatments plus one weedy check control. All herbicides were used in pre-emergence applications at different doses. During the study the predominated weeds were Amaranthus retroflexus L. (redroot pigweed) and Convolvulus arvensis L. (field bindweed). Generally, all tested herbicidal combinations showed good control on the mixed weed flora and the grain yield was high. Three herbicidal combinations had the best effect on weed numbers and grain yield compared to the weed check: Clomazone -15 ml/da + S-metolachlor - 120 ml/da; Clomazone - 30 ml/da + S-metolachlor - 60 ml/da and Clomazone - 15 ml/da + Pendimethalin - 500 ml/da. Most of the studied herbicides and herbicidal combinations were tolerant, non-suppressive and showed a high positive effect on the chickpea yield.

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