Influence of weed management and vermicompost on weed dynamics, yield and nutrient uptake by fenugreek

A field experiment was conducted at Instructional farm, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur during Rabi 2016-17 and 2017-18 to study the weed dynamics, yield and nutrient uptake in fenugreek. Weed management experiment consists of thirteen different weed management practices assigned to main plot and levels of vermicompost in sub plot. Results of the field experiment revealed that pre-emergence application of oxadiargyl 100 g/ha fb hoeing at 40 DAS recorded the lowest weed density (24.25 /m2) and dry matter of total weeds (158.22 g/m2) over weedy check (245.42 /m2 and 893.44 g/m2) and higher weed control efficiency (82.30 per cent). The same treatment registered higher yield attributes like number of pods (46.68), seeds per pod (17.33), seed weight per pod (9.05 g / plant) and test weight (12.59 g) seed yield (2820 kg/ha) over rest of the weed management treatments. Maximum yield loss 65.0 percent was recorded in weedy check (1055 kg/ha) compared with weed free check (2908 kg/ha). Weed management practices showed significant variation in nutrient uptake by weeds and fenugreek crop at harvest. Interaction effect of Weed management practices and vermicompost application to fenugreek crop showed significant effect on total dry matter accumulation by weeds. Also it showed significantly higher grain yield due to combined effect of Weed management practices and vermicompost application to fenugreek. Based on the pooled results, it was concluded that for maximum seed yield effective weed management and minimum nutrient uptake by weeds and higher uptake by plant through pre emergence application of oxadiargyl 100 g/ha PE fb hoeing at 40 DAS along with application of vermicompost 5 t/ha was found superior in fenugreek grown in irrigated conditions of southern Rajasthan.