Yield enhancement in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) var. TMV 7 through weed management practices

A field experiment was conducted during summer season of 2021 with a view to find out a suitable weed management practice for sesamum by excluding commonly used herbicides and including botanical herbicides along with hand weeding. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with 10 treatments and was replicated thrice. The treatments included one pre-emergence herbicide metribuzin at two levels, one early post- emergence herbicide imazethapyr and one post-emergence herbicide quizalofop ethyl and were applied individually and in sequence along with HW. Two plant products Ageratum conizoides and Ocimum sanctum were tried each at two levels along with HW. These treatments were compared with twice HW and unweeded control. Among the treatments, the least weed density (9.92, 9.88), weed DMP (4.96, 13.54 g/m2), highest grain yield (684 kg/ha) and stalk yield (2069 kg/ha) were recorded in pre-emergence application of metribuzin @ 100 g a.i./ha on 3 DAS+Early post-emergence application of imazethapyr @ 30 g a.i./ha on 10 DAS+HW on 20 DAS. Further, this treatment gave the highest BCR of 2.46. Treatments involving herbicides fb HW were better than plant products fb HW treatments in terms of weed density and yield.