Authors
1
lorestan University
2
MSc. student of Weed Science, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabad
3
Assistant Professor, Plant Protection Research Department, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research, and Education Center, AREEO, Khorramabad, Iran
Abstract
This research aimed to assess the impact of conservation tillage systems on crop yield and weed management in a rain-fed chickpea field. The experiment was carried out as a split-plot based on a completely randomized block design with four replications in Lorestan Province during 2014-2015. The main factor included four levels (no-tillage (NT) without glyphosate, NT with glyphosate, reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT)), while the sub-factor comprised five levels: pre-emergent herbicides pyroxasulfone, flumioxazin, metribuzin, hand-weeding treatment, and unweeded control. Results showed that applying glyphosate under NT conditions led to the greatest reduction in weed density and biomass by 53.6% and 72.4%, respectively, during mid-season growth. The highest average yield of chickpeas was recorded in the RT treatment, CT, and NT with glyphosate, at 206.8, 192.4, and 180.3 kg. ha-1, respectively. Among the herbicide-based treatments, the greatest increases in grain yield were observed in the two-stage hand-weeding under reduced tillage (382.7 kg ha⁻¹) and the pyroxasulfone herbicide treatment (189.3 kg ha⁻¹), representing 212% and 54.8% increases over the control, respectively. Pyroxasulfone, flumioxazin, and metribuzin were the most effective herbicides for weed control, demonstrating 49%, 41.7%, and 8.6% effectiveness, respectively, compared to the control. These results indicate that RT could serve as a viable alternative to CT in rain-fed chickpea fields.
Keywords
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