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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Evaluation of critical crop-weed competition period in kharif sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata Strut) in North-Eastern Ghats of Odisha

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.11746
Submitted
11 September 2025
Published
29-07-2026

Abstract

A field investigation was undertaken at M S Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University of Technology and Management, in the rainy period of 2024 to estimate the duration of the critical period for weed control (CPWC) of green corn under the North-Eastern Ghats zone of the state, Odisha. This experiment was designed following randomised block design. Ten treatments with various periods of weed interference were chosen, involving weed-free and weed infested check. At 60 days after sowing (DAS), Cyperus rotundus L had a maximum relative weed density (13.16 %). Tank mix application of topramezone + atrazine 25.2 + 250 g ha-1 at 20 DAS, i.e., T10 (3.30 m-2), resulted in a significantly higher population of sedge weeds over atrazine, followed by one hand weeding, i.e., T9 treatment (3.00 m-2) at 60 DAS. Surprisingly, the yield loss of green cobs was 48.04 and 53.99 % in T9 and T10 treatments, respectively, as compared to weed-free throughout the growing period, i.e., T8 treatment. The CPWC was found to be 27–79 DAS, i.e., 53 days of green corn growth. T8 treatment was recorded as most profitable by providing maximum benefit : cost (B:C). Weed-free up to 63 DAS treatment provided almost similar B:C. Therefore, effective weed control practices should be adopted by sweet corn growers to maintain the field weed-free from 27–63 DAS (i.e., 37 days) during Kharif in the North-Eastern Ghats of Odisha.

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