Non-chemical weed control impact on growth, yield quality and profitability of mustard in Eastern plateau and hill zone of India

A field experiment was conducted at Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Morabadi, Ranchi, Jharkhand (India), during the winter 2022-23 to find out the non-chemical weed control impact on growth, yield, quality and profitability of mustard in Eastern plateau and hill zone of India. The experiment was executed in a randomized block design using 10 treatments: control (unweeded), hand weeding (weed free), ginger + garlic (1:1) extract 40 %, parthenium leaf extract 40%, bamboo leaf extract 40%, teak leaf extract 40%, lantana leaf extract 40%, calotropis leaf extract 40%, neem leaf extract 40%, guava leaf extract 40%), replicated three times. Among all the treatments, hand weeding (weed free) resulted best in controlling the weeds in the mustard crop field. Consequently, it ensured maximum plant growth, seed yield (2.14 t/ha), stover yield (4.48 t/ha), harvest index (32.5 %) and quality attributes (Total soluble solids (TSS) 11.3°Brix, total sugar 9.39%, protein 22.1%, oil 37.7%) of mustard. On the contrary, botanical leaf extract sprays showed very less weed control efficiency (WCE) (5.27-17.06%). Spraying of lantana leaf extract 40% ensured relatively better WCE (17.06%) and consequently, improved mustard growth, seed yield (1.72 t/ha), stover yield (4.03 t/ha), harvest index (29.9) and quality attributes (TSS 11.0°Brix, total sugar 8.52%, protein 21.1%, oil 36.5%) to an extent. Hand weeding further obtained maximum net returns (₹ 96460/ha) and B:C (3.36), closely fb spraying of lantana leaf extract 40% (net returns ₹ 77560/ha, and B:C 3.30). The lowest mustard growth, yield and quality were obtained from the unweeded (control plot), indicating the harmful impact of weeds on crop.