Efficacy of weed management practices in ratoon sugarcane

Reduction in cane yield due to weeds occurs up to 40-67% (Chauhan and Srivastava 2002). Weed in sugarcane need to be controlled at formative stage. Weed control in sugarcane can be achieved by mechanical, chemical, chemical + mechanical methods and trash mulching (Singh et al. 1996). Sugarcane ratoon occupies majority of the area in Maharashtra. Economical weed management in sugarcane ratoon is essential for sustainable cane yield. Manual hoeing and weeding are costly and labour intensive. Thus, there is need to identify effective herbicides and also to integrate various methods of weed control for effective and economical weed management. Sugarcane being a highly fertilized crop requires frequent irrigations. Weeds grow vigorously and compete with the crop at tillering stage. Present study was undertaken to study the influence of weed management practices in controlling weeds and economics of various treatments in ratoon sugarcane.