Effect of pre- and post-emergence herbicides on weeds, productivity andprofitability of maize

A field experiment was conducted to find out the best combinations of pre- and post-emergence herbicides in maize for effective weed control and higher productivity at ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana in 2021 and 2022. Results indicated that pre (PE)- and post-emergence (PoE) herbicide application, reduced the narrow-leaved weeds (NLW) and broad-leaved weeds (BLW) density from 62.41–91.46% and 55.53–82.11% respectively, compared to the weedy check. Among the PE, pyroxasulfone performed better than atrazine owing to selectivity towards maize with better weed control during both years. The density of Cyperus spp. was significantly reduced with halosulfuron PoE along with atrazine or pyroxasulfone PE over the years. A higher weed control efficiency (WCE) was found with pyroxasulfone followed by (fb) topramezone (90.4), while pyroxasulfone fb tembotrione (84.1) and atrazine fb topramezone (84.8) had similar WCE. Pyroxasulfone fb topramezone gave a 46.97% increase in grain yield over a weedy check. Pyroxasulfone fb topramezone and pyroxasulfone fb tembotrione resulted in higher net returns and B:C. Therefore, the application of pyroxasulfone as PE fb tembotrione as PoE or pyroxasulfone as PE fb topramezone as PoE may be recommended for better weed control and higher maize grain yield in NWPZ of India.