A comparative study of drone and manual herbicide application for weed management in wet direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.)

V R Avhale; S K Govindan; P Gnanasekaran; D Maduraimuthu; K Ramalingam; S G Patil

doi:10.14719/pst.4507

Authors

V R Avhale Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9744-1808
S K Govindan Department of Rice, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6882-8689
P Gnanasekaran Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4214-980X
D Maduraimuthu Department of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2231-7562
K Ramalingam Department of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6659-9587
S G Patil Department of Physical Sciences and Information Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5370-3522

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.4507

Keywords:

direct-seeded rice, herbicides, pretilachlor, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), weed control efficiency

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during the Navarai season (January-April) of 2024 to assess the efficiency of drone-based herbicide application in terms of weed control, energy use, and cost effectiveness in wet direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.). The study compared the effectiveness of weed control using herbicide com-binations applied as pre-emergence followed by early post-emergence, with both drone and knapsack sprayer. The treatments included the application of pretilachlor followed by early post-emergence bispyribac sodium, and pyrazosulfuron followed by penoxsulam + cyhalofop butyl, using both drone and knapsack sprayer. Additionally, weed-free and unweeded control plots were included. Results indicated that the application of pretilachlor fol-lowed by bispyribac sodium using a drone sprayer significantly reduced weed density and weed dry weight compared to the unweeded plot. This treatment also resulted in a higher grain yield (5286 kg ha-1). Moreover, drone application of pretilachlor followed by bispyribac sodium provided a higher net return (Rs. 51631/ha), benefit-cost ratio (2.17), energy-use efficien-cy (9.53), and energy productivity (0.30 kg/MJ). The experiment concluded that drone-based spraying of pretilachlor followed by bispyribac sodium is an effective weed management strategy for wet direct-seeded rice, offering superior yield attributes, energy use efficiency, and profitability.

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