Influence of Tillage and Weed Control Methods on Weeds, Yield and Yield Attributes of Maize (Zea mays L.)

A field experiment was conducted at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh during kharif seasons of 2002 and 2003, to study the weed competitive ability and productivity of maize as influenced by tillage and weed control methods. Among tillage methods, raised seed bed resulted in significantly lowest density and dry matter of weeds at 60 days after sowing (DAS) and harvest of the crop and was followed by conventional tillage. Raised seed bed and conventional tillage increased grain yield by 13.74 and 16.90% over zero tillage. Among weed control methods, atrazine 1.5 kg/ha being statistically at par with acetachlor 1.25 kg/ha produced significantly lower density and dry matter of weeds and resulted in significant increase in all the yield attributes of maize crop and thereby its grain yield by 75.18 and 71.66%, respectively, over unweeded check.