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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp3 (2026): Climate-Weed Nexus: Innovations for Sustainable Farming (CWIS 2025)

Polymer-based nano-encapsulated pendimethalin for season long weed management in upland rice (Oryza sativa L.)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13507
Submitted
3 January 2026
Published
14-05-2026

Abstract

Pendimethalin, a widely used pre-emergence herbicide for controlling grasses and broadleaf weeds, is subjected to rapid degradation, leaching and volatilisation in the agroecosystem. Nano-encapsulation offers a promising solution by enabling slow and controlled release of herbicides, improving stability, reducing application rates and minimising environmental contamination. The present study focused on the synthesis of starch-based nano encapsulated pendimethalin (NEP) using the solvent evaporation method, its characterisation and field evaluation for weed management in upland rice. The formulation exhibited a particle size of 486.6 nm and a zeta potential of -18 mV. A field experiment was conducted during March–July 2024 at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani using randomised complete block design (RCBD) with 9 treatments and 3 replications. Results revealed that NEP with 4 % starch aqueous phases at 1.0 kg ha-1 significantly reduced weed density and achieved 34 % higher weed control efficiency over conventional pendimethalin. The treatment registered 9 % higher grain yield and 8.41 % higher straw yield than conventional pendimethalin. Dehydrogenase enzyme activity was found to be higher in NEP with 4 % starch aqueous phase at 1.0 kg ha-1 (50.89 µg TPF g-1 soil day-1 at 15 DAS and 36.51 µg TPF g-1 soil day-1 at 30 DAS). In gas chromatography (GC) analysis a higher release efficiency of NEP over conventional pendimethalin was observed with an increase of 8.62 % at 20 days and 13.49 % at 40 days. This indicated the slow-release of NEP formulations which enabled higher weed control efficiency during the critical period of weed competition.

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