Evaluation of Different Weed Control Methods on the Performance of Soybean (Glycine max( L.) Merrill)

Evaluation of different weed control methods on the performance of soybean yield was carried out at Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Agricultural Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado- Ekiti from June to October, 2023. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments and replicated three times. The treatments were Hoe weeding thoroughly, Hoe weeding + Imazamox, Hoe weeding + Imezatapyr, Butachlor + Imazamox and Butachlor + Imezatapyr. Weed control methods significantly influenced the number of pods, soybean yield and weight of 100 seeds. Total variable cost of soybean production was significantly influenced by the cost of weed control methods. Hoe weeding three times consecutively recorded the highest soybean yield (746.6 kg/ha) but was not economical due to highest cost of weed control. Combination of Pre-emergence and Post-emergence herbicides (Butachlor + Imezatapyr) had the lowest total cost, but Butachlor + Imazamox resulted in the highest gross profit (# 444,400) which contributed to the highest benefit-cost ratio (4.09). This study suggests that combination of Pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides( Butachlor + Imazamox) for weed control could help in yield optimization and increase the profitability of soybean production, especially for both smallholder farmers and commercial production levels.