Weed-Crop Competition and its Effect on the Productivity of Gobhi Sarson (Brassica napus L.)

Abstract

Gobhi sarson suffer more from weed competition in early growth stage for light, water and nutrient including CO2. Heavy weed growth is a major recognized bottleneck in realizing the yield potential of Gobhi sarson. Weeds appear to be most serious menace in crop production due to their extensive losses. A field experiment was conducted during the Rabi season of session 2023-24 at the Agricultural Research Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments in three replications. The weed control treatments comprised of weedy check throughout, weed free throughout, weed free for 20, 40 and 60 days and weedy check for 20, 40 and 60 days. The highest weed density (67.67 plants/m²) and weed dry weight (79.33 g/m²) were recorded in weedy check throughout, whereas, weedy check at 20 days recorded minimum (23.33 plants/m² and 32.33 g/m² respectively). Weedy check treatments recorded higher weed density, weed dry weight. Weed free treatments are lower weed index and weedy check treatments are higher weed index. The highest seed yield (20.37 q/ha) was recorded in weed free throughout which was significantly higher than weed free for 60 days (19.80 q/ha) but was at par with rest of the treatments. Similar trend was also observed in growth parameters and yield attributes.