Effect of weed management practices on Sugarcane ratoon

A field experiment was conducted during the three consecutive seasons from 2006-08 on clay loam soil of Sugarcane Research Station, Buralikson, Assam to study the effect of different herbicides along with other cultural practices of weed management of sugarcane. The experimental field  was laid out in randomized block design with three replication with the following  ten treatments viz. T1: control, T2: 3 hoeings (1st , 4th and 7th week), T3: Atrazine@ 2kg a.i/ha + 2,4-D @ 1kg a.i/ha at 45 days after ratoon initiation, T4: atrazine @ 2 kg a.i/ha +  1 hoeing at 45 days after ratoon initiation,  T5: metribuzine @1 kg a.i/ha + 2,4-D @1 kg a.i/ha at 45 days after ratoon initiation, T6: metribuzine @1 kg a.i/ha + 1 hoeing at 45 days after ratoon initiation ,  T7: glycel-41@ 0.4 kg a.i/ha at 3rd week stage, T8: glycel-41@ 0.4 kg a.i/ha at 3rd week + 1 hoeing at 60 days after ratoon initiation, T9: trash mulching in alternate rows + hoeing during 1st and 6th week, T10: trash mulching in all rows. Result revealed that all the weed management practices had a significant effect on growth and yield of sugarcane over control. Out of all treatments, pre-emergence spraying of metribuzine @1 kg a.i/ha followed by spraying of 2, 4-D @1 kg a.i/ha at 45 days after ratoon initiation recorded lesser number of weeds and weed dry weight with higher weed control efficiency (80.38%). The same treatment also recorded the higher cane yield (79.6 t/ha) which is followed by pre-emergence spraying of metribuzine @ 1 kg a.i/ha with 1 hoeing at 45 days after ratoon initiation.