Effect of sowing date and weed management on productivity and economics of rainfed mungbean (Vigna radiata)

A field experiment was conducted during the rainy (kharif) season of 2013 and 2014 at Angul, Odisha, to study the effect of sowing date and weed management on crop growth, yield, weed control, economics and nutrient up- take of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilezek]. The experiment consisted of 3 sowing date and 6 weed manage- ment treatments. The pooled results revealed that, the crop sown on June 20, resulted significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation, seeds/pod, nodules/plant, seed yield (1.0 t/ha), net returns ( 26,100/ha) and weed control efficiency (68.1%). Application of imazethapyr @ 100 g/ha at 20 days after sowing (DAS) followed by (fb) 1 hand-weeding at 40 DAS resulted in significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation, dry matter ef- ficiency, pods/plant, seeds/pod, nodules/plant, nodules dry weight, seed yield (1.17 t/ha), harvest index (29.7%), monetary returns ( 872/ha/day) and benefit: cost ratio (2.18). The same treatment also recorded the maximum weed control efficiency (87.9%), which resulted in significant reduction in both weed density (38.0/m2) and weed dry weight (28.6 g/m2). In contrast to nutrient uptake by mungbean crop, the decreased nitrogen, phosphorus and potash removal by weeds was recorded upto to 88.5% under weed management treatments.