Effect of Integrated Weed Management Practice on Weeds and Yield of Cotton Integrated Weed Management in Cotton Fields

Abstract

Weeds are one of the causes of underproduction which leads to severe losses in cotton yield due to competition and increased production costs. This study was aimed at determining the effect of different weed management practices on weeds and cotton yield in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons at Werer Agricultural Research Center and Gewane cotton commercial farm. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments consisted of various combinations of mechanical, cultural, and chemical control methods. These were: hand weeding + inter-culturing, pre-irrigation + hand weeding, pendimethalin + hand weeding, pre-irrigation + inter-culturing, pendimethalin + inter-culturing, pre-irrigation + pendimethalin, pre-irrigation, and control. Data on weed density and cotton yield and yield components were recorded. Weed density, cotton boll number per plant, boll weight, and seed cotton yield were significantly affected by weed management practices. Hand weeding + inter-culturing and pendimethalin + inter-culturing resulted in seed cotton yield of 60.74 and 64% higher than the weedy check. However, the maximum net benefit was obtained from pendimethalin + inter-culturing followed by hand weeding + inter-culturing. Based on the results observed, the use of pendimethalin + hand-weeding or hand-weeding + inter-culturing can be used to economically and effectively control weeds in cotton fields of Middle Awash areas.