Effect of sowing methods and weed management on growth yield attributes and yield of wheat in Chhattisgarh plains

A field experiment was carried during the rabi season of 2018-19 at National Institute of Biotic Stress Management (ICAR-NIBSM), Baronda farm, Raipur (C.G.) with a view to study the “Effect of sowing methods and weed management on growth yield attributes and yield of wheat in Chhattisgarh plains” to find out the best seeding method and weed management practice in wheat. The wheat variety GW-273 was used for the research and the treatments were replicated three times in a split plot design. The treatment was made of three sowing methods in the main plot i.e. S1 (broadcasting), S2 (line sowing) and S3 (criss-cross sowing) with five weed management treatments in sub plot viz., T1 (clodinafop 15% + metsulfuron 1% at (64 g ha-1), T2 (sulfosulfuron 75% and metsulfuron 5% (32 g ha-1)), T3 (weedy check), T4 (hand weeding at 25 & 45 DAS) and T5 (weed free). Wheat was sown with a spacing of 20 cm (line to line distance) for line sowing and 20 cm × 20 cm for criss-cross method in a gross plot size of 5 m × 5m and net plot size we m 4.2 × 4.2 m. The outcome of the research revealed that among the different sowing methods, S3 (criss-cross sowing) produced significantly highest seed yield (4993.33 kg ha-1) as compared to S2 line sowing (4506.67 kg ha-1) and S1 Broadcasting (3773.33 kg ha-1). The weed management treatment i.e., weed free (T5) produced highest grain yield (5033.33 kg ha-1 followed by T1 (clodinafop + metsulfuron + surfactant) with 4777.78 kg ha-1 followed by hand weeding (T4) with 4577.78 kg ha-1 followed by the application of sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron + surfactant(T2) with 4533.33 kg ha-1. The weedy check treatment produced the lowest of grain yield (3200.00 kg/ha) among all treatments. The results of the investigation reveal that in overall performance in weed management, growth parameters, yield attributes and economics of the crop were observed to be significantly higher under treatment S3T1 i.e., criss-cross along with clodinafop + metsulfuron + surfactant in crop cultivated under Chhattisgarh plain conditions. The treatment T3 (weedy check) showed lower values for all of the above mentioned parameters. The treatment T5 (weed free) of criss-cross sowing(S3) resulted in the higher grain yield (5033.33 kg ha-1) and straw yield (5433.33 kg ha-1) and it was recorded at par with T1, T2 and T4. Treatment S3T5 (weed free of criss-cross sowing) also came up with highest gross return (1,01,200 Rs ha-1) and but due to higher cost of cultivation, the net return was highest for S3T1 (66,402.27 Rs ha-1) among the treatments with maximum B:C ratio (2.09).