Influence of Nutrient Management and Post-Emergence Herbicides on Yield and Economics of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

An agronomic investigation was conducted during the rabi seasons of 2023-24 and 2024-25 at the Crop Research Center of ITM University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India, to determine the influence of nutrient management and post-emergence herbicides on the yield and economic of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment, comprising three nutrient management practices and six herbicide applications, was laid out in two factor randomized block design with three replications. The findings showed that, among the nutrient management practices, 75% RDF + vermicompost at 1.5 t ha-1 recorded the highest yield attributing characteristics, viz., number of effective shoots (393.8 and 411.1), spike length (10.7 and 11.1 cm), number of grains spike-1 (43.9 and 45.1), 1000-grain weight (41.2 and 42.3 g), grain yield (4117 and 4218 kg ha-1), and net returns (₹75,324.6 and ₹87,438.0 ha-1) during 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively. Herbicide application significantly influenced weed control efficiency and yield. The weed-free treatment recorded 100% weed control efficiency and the highest grain yields (4530 and 4661 kg ha-1 during 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively). Among the herbicidal treatments, sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron-methyl was the most effective, recording the highest weed control efficiency (83.34 and 84.77%), yield attributing characteristics, grain yield (4344 and 4468 kg ha-1) and net returns (₹82,251.1 and ₹95,405.7 ha-1) during 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively. Therefore, applying 75% RDF + vermicompost at 1.5 t ha-1 together with sulfosulfuron + metsulfuron-methyl resulted in higher productivity and net returns in wheat production.