| Popis: |
The objective of this study was to evaluate maize production and the economic profitability of weed management techniques. Field trials were conducted at the Kasapa farm during the 2021/22 growing seasons using a split-plot design with three repetitions. The main factor was the herbicides applied in pre-emergence alone (2L ha−1: acetochlor, bentazon, imazethapyr and 60 g ha−1 chlorimuron-ethyl), then mixed (1L ha−1: acetochlor plus bentazon plus imazethapyr plus 30g ha−1chlorimuron-ethyl), manual hoeing (3-5WAS) including the non-weeding. The secondary factor: maize varieties (GV672A, GV673A, GV664A and Sam4vita). The highest maize dry grain yield (7.66 t ha−1) was associated with imazethapyr, while those of acetochlor and chlorimuron-ethyl (6.86 and 6.92 t ha−1) compared to manual hoeing (7.62 t ha−1, respectively) were low, but much higher than no weeding (1.21 t ha−1). The yields of varieties GV672A and GV664A were higher (6.87 and 6.77 t ha−1), compared to Sam4vita (5.64 t ha−1). The total dry weight of weeds was negatively correlated with all crop parameters, with its maximum value (127.56 g m−2) characterizing non-weeding, and the minimum for manual hoeing (18.83 g m−2). The Ratio Cost Value showed that all treatments were profitable: imazethapyr > bentazon > chlorimuron-ethyl > combination > acetochlor > manual hoeing. However, imazethapyr was economically more profitable and could replace manual hoeing when the field to be weeded increases and labor is scarce. |
