Yield and economics of hybrid maize as influenced by plant spacing and weed management practices

Field experiments were conducted during kharif 2014 and 2015 under irrigated condition at farmer’s field at Udumalaipettai of Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu to find out the influence of plant spacing and weed management practices on the yield and economics of maize. The experiments were laid out in split plot design replicated thrice with three plant spacings viz., 45 cm x 30 cm (74,074 plants per ha), 60 cm x 20 cm (83,333 plants per ha) and 60 cm x 25 cm (66,666 plants per ha) under main plot and four weed management practices viz., atrazine @ 0.50 kg /ha as pre emergence + one hand weeding 30 DAS, atrazine @ 0.50 kg /ha as pre emergence + 2,4 – D sodium salt @ 0.75 kg / ha 30 DAS, atrazine @ 0.50 kg /ha as pre emergence + twin wheel hoe weeder weeding 30 DAS and unweeded control under subplot. The results of the experiments revealed that the plant spacing 60 cm x 25 cm among the plant spacings and atrazine @ 0.50 kg ha-1 + one hand weeding 30 DAS among the weed management practices favourably increased the grain yield. Among the treatment combinations, higher grain yield was recorded under the plant spacing of 60 cm x 25 cm along with atrazine @ 0.50 kg ha-1 + one hand weeding 30 DAS followed by atrazine @ 0.50 kg ha-1 + twin wheel hoe weeder weeding 30 DAS. The economic returns were higher with the plant spacing of 60 cm x 25 cm along with atrazine @ 0.50 kg ha-1 + one hand weeding 30 DAS. However, higher B:C ratio was recorded with the spacing 60 cm x 25 cm along with atrazine @ 0.50 kg ha-1 + twin wheel hoe weeder weeding 30 DAS.