WEED BIOMASS AND GROWTH OF MUNGBEAN AS AFFECTED BY TILLAGE PRACTICES AND SOWING METHODS

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1 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, 2014 WEED BIOMASS AND GROWTH OF MUNGBEAN AS AFFECTED BY TILLAGE PRACTICES AND SOWING METHODS MOHAMMAD AMIN 1 *, MOHAMMAD JAMAL KHAN 2, MOHAMMAD TARIQ JAN 3, ABDUL LATIF 4, MASOOD UR REHMAN 1 and MOHAMMAD ARIF 3 1. Department of Agricultural Mechanization, The University of Agriculture Peshawar - Pakistan. 2. Department of Water Management, The University of Agriculture Peshawar - Pakistan. 3. Department of Agronomy, The University of Agriculture Peshawar - Pakistan. 4. Directorate of Research, Peshawar - Pakistan *Corresponding author: dr.amin_mechanization@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Impact of tillage practices and sowing methods on weed biomass and growth of mungbean under irrigated condition was studied at the research farm of The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during 2010 and The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split plot arrangement and replicated four times. Tillage practices, were tine cultivator use twice (TC-2), and the following treatments chisel plow(cr), mouldboard plow (MR), disc plow (DR) and tine cultivator(tcr) were followed by rotavator, while sowing methods were seed drill (SD), combined drill (CD) and broadcasting (BC). Tillage practices were assigned to main plots and sowing methods to sub plots. Statistical analysis of the two years mean data revealed that tillage practices had a significant effect on weed biomass and plant height, while number of branches and biological yield of mungbean were not significantly affected. showed significant affect on weed biomass, plant height, number of branches plant -1 and biological yield of mungbean. Lower dry weed biomass (128 g m -2 ) was recorded in plots plowed with MR tillage practices. Higher plant height (77.8 cm) and biological yield (4470kg ha -1 ) were recorded in plots plowed with CR and MR tillage practices respectively, while highest dry weed biomass (311 g m -2 ), lowest plant height (75.1 cm) and biological yield (4145 kg ha -1 ) were recorded in plots plowed with TC-2 tillage practices. Similarly lower weed biomass (177g m -2 ), higher plant height (77.8 cm) and biological yield (4537kg ha -2 ) were observed in plots of seed drill sowing methods. Therefore, for minimizing weeds and maximizing growth of mungbean MR tillage practices or other tillage implements followed by rotavator along with drill sowing methods should be adopted under irrigated condition. Key words: Tillage, sowing methods, weeds, mungbean, Citation: Amin. M, M. J. Khan, M.T. Jan, A. Latif, M.U. Rehman and M. Arif Weed biomass and growth of mungbean as affected by tillage practices and sowing methods. Sarhad J. Agric. 30(2): 227- INTRODUCTION Among pulses mungbean (Vigina radiate L) is an important crop cultivated in many Asian countries as well as in Pakistan. In Pakistan, mungbean was grown on an area of about 141 thousand hectares with a total production of 93 thousand tons and average yield 661 kg per hectare. While in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan mungbean was grown on an area of about 7.3 thousand hectares with a total production of 4.4 thousand tones with an average yield of about 603 kg ha -1 (MINFAL ). Weeds are one of the most restrictive factors to efficient crop production, because it grows faster than native plants and compete for space, available nutrients, water and sun light. A lot of efforts have been made to find out an economical weed control technology where pulses are grown. Chattha et al. (2007) reported t hat improvement in grain yield under different weed control methods may be attributed more weed growth reduction, which favoured higer plant height and increased plant biomass of mungbean. Tillage operations are commonly performed to shatter the soil, remove weeds and provide a better atmosphere for plant growth. Tillage plays an important role in controlling weeds and managing crop residues. Tillage after harvest of crops is usually performed by using primary tillage implements such as mouldboard plow, chisel plow and disk plow. Mouldboard plow is a common tillage implement using for inversion of the soil, burying of weeds and residues. (Yalcin et al. 2005, Gruber and Claupein 2009) find out that mouldboard plowing resulted in seed-bed with weed free condition and higher yield than direct seeding, as weed infestation was higher in direct seeding compared to the conventional method. Akhtar et al. (2005) reported that mouldboard plow obtained higher yield and net return than cultivator. Marwat et al, (2007) reported that weed density was higher in reduced tillage practices than conventional tillage. Demjanova et al. (2009) mentioned that weed biomass was affected by tillage system, significantly less weed dry biomass was found in conventional tillage with mouldboard plowing as compared to reduced

2 Mohammad Amin, et al. Weed biomass and growth of mungbean 228 tillage practices. Ozpinar (2006) reported that wee d increased in intensive tillage compared to mouldboard plowing. Gruber and Claupein (2009) reported that mould board plowing resulted in lowest weed infestation and the highest weed occurred in chisel plow treatment. Ali (1985) reported that type of plow has no effect on grain yield and density of weed. The chisel plow is appropriate for cutting the soil without complete burying or mixing of surface material and considered as a potential conservation tillage method. Conservation tillage has not yet commonly accepted by farmers because inversion tillage is considered to be necessary for weed control. Tillage by chisel plow resulted in significantly higher annual weed density compared to other tillage (Gruber and Claupein, 2009). Disk plow was found suitable for the virgin, hard, stony and wet soil, for cutting crop residues and to some extent inverted the soil. Secondary tillage included the use of single or double passes of cultivator for preparing the seed bed (Boydas and Turgut, 2007). Tine type cultivator is the common tillage implement using in Pakistan for seed bed preparation in variety of soils (Soomro et al., 1985). Tine cultivator does not satisfy the proper tillage requirement, soil is lifted untilled between two consecutive tines and the farmers till the field repeatedly causing over tilling. The rotavator are gaining popularity among tillage implements for seedbed preparation in the country, it produces uniform mixing of soil with plant residues, weed control, organic and mineral fertilizers. Manian et al.( 1999) and Iqbal et al., (2007) reported that higher yield produced from plots plowed with one pass of rotavator and cultivator. Khan et al. (1990) mentioned that one of the reason for lower crop yield in the country is the conventional sowing practices, therefore for mechanizing planting operation a proper seed drill should be used to put the seed and fertilizer in the zone of sufficient moisture and at desired depth. The strip till drilling produced higher growth, yield attributing characters, grain and straw yield as compared to conventional sowing method (Singh et al. 2007). Considering the importance of tillage practices and sowing methods, the present study was planned with the objective, to evaluate the impact of tillage practices and sowing methods on weed and growth of mungbean under irrigated condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS A field trial was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage practices and sowing methods on weeds biomass and growth of mungbean under irrigated condition at the research farm of The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during 2010 and The experiment consisted of two factors i.e. tillage practices and sowing methods. Randomize complete block design (RCBD) with a split plot arrangement was used as an experimental set up for the study. Tillage practices were assigned to main plots, while sowing methods to sub plots. The treatments were replicated four times in five main plots for tillage practices and three subplots for sowing practices. Each main plot was divided into three sub plots for different sowing methods. For access of drills to each sub plot and turning of seed drills, 4.5 meters space at two spots were left in the middle of the main plots. The net sub plot size was 25 m long and 2.4 m wide (25 m 2.4 m) with a total number of the experimental subplots of 60. The tillage implements combination used in the experiment were tine cultivator twice (farmers practices) TC-2, moldboard plow (MR), disk plow (DR), chisel plow (CR) and tine cultivator (TCR) each followed by a rotavator. were seed drill (SD) and combined drill (CD) (seed cum fertilizer drill), while broadcasting (BC) was done manually. Before the tillage operation each implement was calibrated and used in the same experimental plot. Indigenous made single box seed drill and combined drill were calibrated before sowing of crop. Seed drills (SD) and combined drill (CD) were adjusted for 30 cm row to row distance, and were calibrated for seed at the seed rate of 30 kg ha-1 before sowing. For application of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer, combined drill was calibrated at the rate of 90 kg ha-1 while in the plots of seed drill and broadcast, DAP fertilizer were applied by hand broadcasting at the rate of 90 kg ha-1 before sowing. The data were recorded and presented on weed biomass in mungbean, plant height, number of branches plant-1and biological yield of mungbean. The data were statistically analyzed by using analysis of variance appropriate for randomized complete block design with the split plot arrangement. Means compared using LSD test at 0.05 level of probability subject to significant F-value as described by Steel and Torrie (1980). RESULT AND DISCUSSION Weed Biomass (g m -2 ): Data concerning dry weed biomass g m-2 in mungbean is reported in table 1. Analysis of variance for weed biomass g m-2 revealed that effect on weed biomass of different tillage and sowing methods was significant. Average values of weed biomass of 177 g m-2 and 211 g m-2 were recorded in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Mean values of weed biomass with different tillage practices ranged from 128 to 311 gm-2. The lowest weed biomass of (128 g m-2) was noted when MR tillage practices was used, while the highest of (311 g m-2) was obtained with TC-2 tillage practices. This may be due to the inversion of the soil and burying of weeds in the soil with the moldboard plowing. The results are in line with (Khan et al., 1986, 1990) who reported that inversion of the soil by the moldboard plow reduced weed population as compared to non inversion tillage implements. Marwat et al., (2007) reported that weed density was higher in reduced

3 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, tillage as compared to conventional tillage. Demejanova et al., (2009) reported that significantly less weed dry biomass were recorded in mouldboard plowing as compared to reduced tillage practices. Amin et al., (2013) reported that lower weed biomass were recorded with mouldboard plow followed by rotavator than tine cultivator use twice. The average values for dry weed biomass of different sowing methods ranged from 176 to 219 g m-2. Highest dry weed biomass (219 g m-2) was obtained by BC sowing methods, while lowest weed biomass of (176 g m-2) and (189 g m-2) was obtained when SD and CD method of sowing were used respectively. The results are in agreement with Amin et al., (2013) who reported that minimum dry weed biomass were observed with drill sowing methods as compared to broadcast in wheat plots. Table 1. Mean dry weed biomass (g m -2 ) as affected by tillage practices and sowing methods during 2010 and 2011 in mungbean plots. TC-2* a CR b MR c DR bc TCR bc Mean 179 b 211 a LSD=48.48 SD b CD b BC a Mean 179 b 211 a LSD=22.56 Plant Height (cm): Data regarding plant height (cm) of mungbean is presented in Table 2. Analysis of variance for plant height revealed significant difference for tillage practices and sowing methods. Minimum plant height of 74.2 (cm) was recorded in year- 1, while maximum plant height 79.4 (cm) was recorded in the year-2. The difference in plant height is attributed mainly to favorable climatic condition in the year-2 and residues of previous crops. The average values for plant height due to different tillage practice were in the range of 75.1 to 77.8 cm. Maximum plant height of (77.8 cm) was recorded when CR tillage practices were used followed by DR,MR and TCR, while minimum plant height (75.1 cm) was obtained when TC- 2 tillage practices was used. This might be due to better pulverization of soil by rotavator in combination with other tillage implements, which provide favorable condition for plant growth than the sole used of tine cultivator twice. Amin et al., (2013) reported that higher plant height of wheat was obtained with chisel plow and mouldboard plow followed by rotavator than lone use of cultivator twice. Mean values for plant height due to different sowing methods ranged between 75.8 to78.5 cm. Maximum plant height of (78.5 cm) was noted when the SD method of sowing was used; while minimum plant height of (75.8 cm) was obtained when BC method of sowing was used. Table 2 Mean plant height (cm) of mungbean as affected by tillage practices and sowing methods during 2010 and TC-2* b CR a MR a DR a TCR a Mean 74.2 b 79.4 a LSD=1.68 SD a CD b BC b Mean 74.2 b 79.4 a LSD=1.80

4 Mohammad Amin, et al. Weed biomass and growth of mungbean 230 Number of Branches Plant -1 Data pertaining to number of branches of mungbean are reported in table 3. Analysis of variance for the number of branches revealed that tillage practices were not significant, while sowing methods were significant. Average values for number of branch plant -1 for the year 1 and year 2 were 6.14 and 6.44 respectively. The mean number of branch plant -1 due to different tillage practices ranged from 5.95 to Lower number of branches plant -1 (5.95) was obtained when tine cultivator (T C-2) was used, while higher (6.60) branches plant -1 was noted with mouldboard plow followed by rotavator ( MR) tillage practices. The results are in agreement with Khan et al. (2011) who reported that mouldboard plowing produced better results than cultivator. Maximum number of branch plant -1 (7.15) was recorded when combined drill (CD) was used, while the minimum number of branch plant was noted with broadcast (BC) method of sowing was used. This might be due to the uniform and proper placement of seed in the soil by drill sowing methods. Table 3 Mean number of branch plant -1 of mungbean as affected by tillage practices and sowing methods during 2010 and TC CR MR DR TCR Mean LSD=0.60 SD b CD a BC b Mean LSD=0.49 Biological Yield (kg ha -1 ) Data concerning mungbean biological yield (kg ha -1 ) is given in table 4. Analysis of variance for biological yield kg ha -1 showed no significant difference for different tillage practices while sowing methods were significant. Data in table showed that minimum biological yield of 3633 kg ha -1 was recorded in the year-1, while the maximum biological yield of 5069 kg ha -1 was recorded for the year-2. This difference in biological yield due to year might be attributed to favourable climatic condition and residual effect of previous mungbean crops. These results are in line with Eraback et al. (1986) who reported that residues of prior crops on the soil surface had a better effect on plant growth. The biological yield due to different tillage practice was in the range of kg ha -1. Minimum biological yield of (4145 kg ha -1 ) was obtained when TC-2 tillage practices was used, while maximum biological yield of (4537 kg ha -1 ) was recorded when MR tillage practices was used followed by TCR with (4409 kg ha -1 ). Salahin et al., (2011) reported that tillage had no significant effect on biomass and straw yield of mungbean, however our results are in agreement with Khan et al. (2011) who reported that mouldboard plowing produced better results than cultivator. Average values for biological yield with different sowing methods ranged between kg ha -1. A maximum biological yield of 4537 kg ha -1 was recorded when the SD seed drill was used followed by CD with (4518 kg ha -1 ), while minimum (3998 kg ha -1 ) was obtained when broadcast method of sowing was used. This may be due to the proper placement and covering of seeds by drill sowing methods, which provide better environment for plant growth and increased biological yield as compared to broadcast sowing. The results are in line with Singh et al. (2007) who reported that drill sowing methods produced higher grain and straw yield kg ha -1 followed by conventional sowing methods.

5 Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, Table 4 Mean biological yield kg ha -1 of mungbean as affected by tillage practices and sowing methods during 2010 and TC CR MR DR TCR Mean 3633b 5069a LSD= SD a CD a BC b Mean 3633b 5069a LSD= CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS It is concluded from the results that tillage practices had significant effect on weeds biomass in mungbean. Minimum weeds biomass m -2 was recorded with (MR) tillage practices, while maximum weeds biomass m -2 was noted in the plots where (TC -2) tillage was practiced. Higher mungbean growth was obtained when the plots were plowed with tillage implement followed by rotavator and drills sowing methods were used. Therefore for minimizing weed biomass and maximizing growth of mungbean, MR tillage practices or tillage implement followed by rotavator and drill sowing methods should be used under irrigated condition. REFERENCES Akhtar, J., S.M Mehddi, O-U.Rehman, K.Mahmood, and M.sarfaraz Effect of deep tillage practices on moisture preservation and yield of groundnut under rainfed conditions. J. Agri. Social Sci. 1: Ali, L.H.M., Comparative use of mouldboard and chisel plow on wheat yield and weed density in Iraq. Agri. Mech. Asia 16: Amin,M., M.J.Khan and M.T.Jan Effect of tillage practices and sowing methods on weed and biological yield of wheat under semi-arid environment. Pak J. Weed Sci.Res.19( 1): Boydas, M.G., and N.Turgut Effect of tillage implements and operating speeds on soil physical properties and wheat emergence. Turk J. Agri. 31: Demjanova, E., M.Macak, I.Dalovic, F.Majernik, S.Tyre, and J.Smatana Effects of tillage systems and crop rotation on weed density, weed species composition and weed biomass in maize. Agron. Res. 7: Gruber, S., and W.Claupein Effect of tillage intensity on weed infestation in organic farming. Soil and Tillage Res. 105: Husain, K.A., and H.M. Munir Agri.Mech.Asia. 17: Factors affecting choice and use of tillage implements, Pakistan setting. Iqbal, M., M. Ahmad, M. Ahmad, M. Iqbal, and M.Ali Wheat response to tillage and irrigation. Pak. J. Agri. Sci. 44: Khan, B. M., A. Razzaq, B.R. Khan, K.Saeed, P.R. Hobbs, and N.I.Hashmi Effect of deep tillage on grain yield of wheat under rain fed conditions. Pak. J. Agri. Res. 11: Khan, B. R., B. Khan, A. Razzaq, M. Munir, S.Ahamd, N.I. Hashmi, and P. R. Hobbs Effect of different tillage implements on the yield of wheat. Pak. J. Agri. Res. 7: Khan, R.U., A.Rashid, M.S. Khan, and A.Shah Impact of tillage practices on growth and seed yield of mungbean (Vigna radiata L) under rainfed conditions. J. Agric. Res.49: Khan, A.S., M.A. Tabassum, and J.Khan Selection of seed-cum-fertilizer drill: technical consideration. Agrri.Mech.Asia. 21:

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