Effect of Tillage and Weed Management Practices on Yield and Economics of Maize

Abstract

A two years study was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Tandur, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Telangana, India during two consecutive kharif seasons of 2018 and 2019 to investigate the effect of tillage and weed management practices on the yield and economics of maize. The experiment was carried out in strip-plot design with tillage methods assigned to vertical plots and weed management practices allotted to horizontal plots which were replicated thrice. It was observed that there is no significant difference between tillage methods, but weed management practices significantly influenced the yield of maize. The findings revealed that conventional tillage and hand weeding twice at 20 and 40 days recorded higher cost of cultivation, gross returns and net returns, while a higher B-C ratio was observed under reduced tillage and Atrazine 50% WP at 1.0 kg a.i. ha-1 (PE) fb Tembotrione 42% SC @ 120 g a.i. ha-1. The interaction effect between tillage and weed management practices on grain yield was found to be non-significant.