Effect of chemical weed control and nitrogen levels in cauliflower

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of chemical weed control and nitrogen levels on cauliflower var. Snowball-16.The treatments consisted of six levels of weed control measures (viz., weedy check, hand weeding, pendimethalin and oxadiazon each @ 1.0 and 1.5 kg/ha) and three levels of nitrogen (viz., 0, 60 and 120 kg/ha), thus making 18 treatment combinations which were replicated in Randomized Block Design. All the herbicidal treatments reduced weed population and weed dry matter significantly and increase in plant height, average weight of curd, total curd yield per bed and per hectare and protein content in curd over control. However, the maximum value of these parameters was recorded in pendimethalin @ 1.5 kg/ha. Application of nitrogen significantly increased number of weed, weed dry matter, yield and yield attributes as well as protein content and found to be maximum with application of 120 kg/ha. The maximum net return of Rs. 46,813/ha was obtained from the combination of pendimethalin with 120 kg N/ha.