Weed suppressing ability and performance of common crop residues for sustainable weed management

Abstract

Application of crop residues can be a good option for organic and sustainable weed management in rice. Consequently, the use of crop residues can suppress weed emergence and weed biomass. A study was conducted in two consecutive seasons firstly to optimize the mixture ratio to soil (v/v) of different crop residues on inhibition of common weed species and secondly to evaluate their performance on rice growth and yield. Among the crop residues used in this study sorghum was the most effective followed by mustard, barley, soybean, rice, wheat, triticale, maize, lentil and grasspea. The 50:50 (crop: soil, v/v) treatments incorporation rate of all crop residues suppressed the growth of all weed species in maximum level. The result revealed that broadleaf weed species were more susceptible to crop residues than grass weed species. In this respect, the highest growth inhibition (54.49%) was observed in controlling <em>Monochoria vaginalis. </em>Variety and rate of sorghum residues application significantly influenced weed growth and inhibition. A maximum increment in terms of plant height, dry weight and yield was observed due to sorghum 2.0 t ha^-1 residue applications. Considering yield and yield contributing characters, highest grain and straw yield was obtained from BRRI dhan29. All together, the result depicted that crop residues can effectively control weed along with enhancing growth and yield of rice and it can be successfully used in weed management program in rice.