Integrated Non-chemical Weed Management Enhances Root Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Organic Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.)

Abstract

Weed competition can markedly constrain organic beetroot production, where reliance on synthetic herbicides is restricted. A two-season field experiment (2022–2023 and 2023–2024) was conducted at Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Hyderabad, to compare nine weed-management treatments for beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.). The treatments included groundnut-shell and rice-husk mulches, polyethene mulch with intra-row hand weeding, rice-straw mulch with intra-row hand weeding, hoeing, green-leaf vegetable intercropping with hand weeding, tamarind-leaf aqueous extract with hand weeding, an unweeded control and a non-organic pendimethalin reference treatment. Root yield and N, P and K concentration and uptake differed among treatments in both seasons. Polyethene mulch combined with intra-row hand weeding at 30 days after sowing (T3) recorded the highest root yields, 24.11 and 25.99 t ha⁻¹, and the highest nutrient uptake in both seasons. Rice-straw mulch at 5 t ha⁻¹ with intra-row hand weeding (T4) produced root yields statistically comparable to T3 and the herbicide reference treatment. The unweeded control consistently recorded the lowest yield and nutrient uptake. The results indicate that combining a soil-cover mulch with timely hand weeding can improve beetroot productivity and nutrient acquisition under the conditions tested. Rice-straw mulch with hand weeding provides a residue-based alternative where the use or disposal of conventional polyethene is constrained.