Integrated sustainable weed management strategies for yield enhancement in organic finger millet

Effective weed management is crucial for improving yield in organic finger millet. To evaluate the effects of stale seedbed (SSB) and live mulching on weed control and crop performance, field experiments were conducted at model organic farm at College of Agriculture, Vellayani during the rabi and summer seasons of 2022–2023 under organic farming. The study followed a randomised block design with two factors: Three seedbed preparations-normal seedbed (NSB), SSB with light raking and SSB with flaming and four live mulch treatments: no mulch, cowpea, green gram and cluster bean. Live mulch crops were sown in the inter-row spaces of finger millet in 1:1 ratio. They were later uprooted at 50 % flowering of the live mulches to serve as in situ mulch. Stale seedbed with light raking combined with cowpea live mulch recorded the lowest total weed density (156.0 and 97.3 no. m-2). The lowest weed dry weight was recorded in the treatment involving SSB with light raking combined with green gram live mulch during the rabi season (13.5 g m-2). However, during the summer season, SSB with light raking combined with green gram and cowpea live mulch recorded the lowest weed dry weight (12.7 g m-2). These treatments also achieved the highest weed control efficiency (WCE) during the rabi and summer seasons, recording values of 89.6 and 88.8 %, respectively. Improved weed suppression translated into better yield attributes and higher grain yields of 938 kg ha-1 in rabi and 832 kg ha-1 in summer 2022–2023. Economic analysis showed that this combination produced the highest gross and net returns and the highest benefit-cost (B:C) ratio, indicating its profitability under organic conditions compared to other treatments. Overall, the study concludes that SSB with light raking followed by cowpea live mulching is an effective, sustainable and cost-efficient weed management strategy for enhancing the productivity of organic finger millet.