Influence of conservation tillage and weed management practices on growth and yield attributes of maize (Zea mays L.) in Sandy Loam soil of Odisha
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The field experiment was performed during the rabi season of 2020-21 at the AICRP on Weed Management Block, Central Farm, Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. This experiment was conducted with tillage and weed management systems in maize (Zea mays L.) using a split plot design having three replications. The three different tillage practices included in the experiment were CT, ZT+M with paddy straw mulch 5 t ha⁻¹ and zero tillage by dibbling (ZT). Four different weed management practices were applied in the subplots which include pendimethalin 1 kg ha⁻¹ pre-emergence treatment, tembotrione 120 g ha⁻¹ post-emergence treatment, manual weeding and weedy check. Conventional tillage gave the highest values of green leaves plant⁻¹, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation and most yield attributes. At harvest, conventional tillage recorded 15.10 green leaves plant⁻¹, LAI of 3.41 and dry matter accumulation of 256.09 g plant⁻¹. Among weed-management methods, pendimethalin gave the highest values of green leaves, LAI, dry matter accumulation and various yield attributes such as cob length (21.36 cm), cob girth (15.17 cm), rows cob⁻¹ (14.72) and 1000-grain weight (352.64 g). The harvest index was 38.22% in case of conventional tillage and 38.22% for pendimethalin. Overall, the study indicates that conventional tillage combined with effective weed control provided the strongest crop-growth and yield-attribute performance under the tested rabi maize conditions. However, the available manuscript does not report grain yield or the tillage × weed-management interaction, so productivity advantages of individual treatment combinations should not be inferred beyond the reported traits.
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7213623808