Production of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) as Influenced by Weed Management Practices and Vermicompost Application

Abstract

Background: A field experiment was conducted at the Instructional Farm of Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur during Rabi 2016-17 and 2017-18 to study the weed flora, growth, yield and economics of fenugreek. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications having Fenugreek variety RMT-305 (25 kg ha-1) and RDF of 40 kg N and 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 (basal dose through urea and DAP). Methods: Herbicide applied as pre-emergence (PE) at one day after sowing, while post-emergence (PoE) application at 2-4 leaf stage of weeds (21 DAS) with knapsack sprayer having flat fan nozzle using 500 liters of water ha-1. Result: The pooled results revealed that pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl 100 g/ha fb hoeing at 40 DAS recorded significantly higher weed control efficiency (82.3%), plant height (59.83 cm), number of branches (6.09), number of pods (44.86), number of seeds/pod (17.33), seed weight (9.05 g/plant) of fenugreek. Also, significantly maximum seed yield (2.82 t/ha), haulm yield (6.70 t/ha) and harvest index (29.7%) of fenugreek was recorded under oxadiargyl 100 g/ha PE fb hoeing at 40 DAS which was at par with weed free treatment. Significantly higher net returns (98158 `/ha) and B C ratio (2.63) was obtained with application of oxadiargyl 100 g/ha Pre-Emergence (PE) fb hoeing at 40 DAS. Residual effect of herbicides used in fenugreek did not showed any phytotoxic effect on succeeding summer fodder maize in terms of visual phytotoxicity rating at various growth stages of maize, weed flora, dry matter of weeds as well as crop at 30 DAS and green fodder yield of summer fodder maize.