Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. sp4 (2025): Recent Advances in Agriculture by Young Minds - III

Effect of non-chemical weed management on nutrient uptake, microbial population and grain nutritional parameters in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.9374
Submitted
8 May 2025
Published
01-12-2025

Abstract

Non-chemical weed management strategies in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) were evaluated for their effect on nutrient uptake, soil microbial population and grain nutritional parameters during rabi 2022 and kharif 2024 at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The experiment setup consisted of twelve treatments laid out in a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Hand weeding (HW) twice at 20 and 40 DAT (T11) recorded the least NPK uptake by weed in both rabi 2022 (N:10.85, 12.48, 12.89, 12. 51 kg ha-1, P: 5.31, 6.67, 7.97, 9.39 kg ha-1, K: 15.92, 22.69, 26.91, 28.48 kg ha-1) and kharif 2024 (N: 10.74, 12.62, 12.78, 12.76 kg ha-1, P: 5.44, 6.81, 8.19, 9.6 kg ha-1, K: 16.19, 23.08, 27.39, 28.81 kg ha-1) at 30, 45, 60, 80 DAT respectively. Butachlor @ 1 kg ha-1 at 3 DAT as pre-emergence (PE) + bispyribac sodium @ 25 g ha-1 at 25 DAT as post-emergence (POE) (T9) recorded the highest NPK uptake by plant in both rabi 2022 (NPK: 51.5, 7.58, 79.1 kg ha-1) which was at par with T11 and during kharif 2024, T11 recorded the highest NPK uptake by plants (NPK: 51.0, 7.83, 76.2 kg ha-1) which was at par with T9. Mycoherbicide foliar spray treatments (T2 and T10) at 25 DAT + HW at 40 DAT increased soil available nutrients and microbial populations with the highest NPK available in soil recorded in T10 (NPK: 219.3, 20.80, 734.0 kg ha-1) in rabi 2022 and (NPK: 220.9, 21.42, 723.0 kg ha-1) in kharif 2024 which was on par with T2 and the highest microbial population recorded in T10 (Bacteria: 9.78 × 10⁷ CFU g-1, Fungi: 5.14 × 10³ CFU g-1, Actinomycetes: 6.45 × 10⁴ CFU g-1) in rabi 2022 and (Bacteria: 9.87 × 10⁷ CFU g-1) in kharif 2024 which was on par with T2 and T2 recording the highest fungi population of 5.06 × 10³ CFU g-1 and actinomycetes population of 6.42 × 10⁴ CFU g-1 which was on par with T10 in kharif 2024. Grain nutritional parameters (protein, crude fibre, fat, carbohydrates) showed no significant variation across treatments (p > 0.05). Bibliometric analysis revealed a research gap in non-chemical weed control with only 11 publications compared to 1783 on general weed management in rice (1990-2025). These findings highlight the potential of non-chemical weed management strategies to improve nutrient efficiency and soil health and therefore, strengthening and validating the pressing need for sustainable rice production.

References

  1. 1. Sen S, Kaur R, Das TK, Shivay YS, Nath CP. Weed control for sustaining rice production under dry seeding systems in North-Western India. Intl J Pest Manag. 2024;70(4):555-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670874.2021.2014079
  2. 2. Umurzokov M, Bo AB, Cho KM, Lim SH, Kim DS, Kim JW, et al. Modelling rice competition with Leptochloa fusca, Bidens frondosa and Ammannia coccinea in transplanted rice cultivation. Weed Res. 2024;64(4):261-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/wre.12650
  3. 3. Bajwa AA. Sustainable weed management in conservation agriculture. Crop Prot. 2014;65:105-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2014.07.014
  4. 4. Kumar V, Mahajan G, Sheng Q, Chauhan BS. Weed management in wet direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.): Issues and opportunities. Adv Agron. 2023;179:91-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2023.01.002
  5. 5. Khaliq A, Riaz MY, Matloob A, Cheema ZA. Bio-economic assessment of chemical and non-chemical weed management strategies in dry seeded fine rice (Oryza sativa L.). J Plant Breed Crop Sci. 2011;3(12):302-10.
  6. 6. Kalaimathi V, Sivakumar C, Parasuraman P, Sivakumar R, Ragunath KP, Rani MA. Effect of chemical and non-chemical weed management practices in direct seeded rice. Int J Plant Soil Sci. 2023;35(18):1812-20. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2023/v35i183479
  7. 7. Farooq O, Mubeen K, Ali HH, Ahmad S. Non-chemical weed management for field crops. Agronomic Crops. 2019;2:317-48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9783-8_16
  8. 8. Ghosh D, Brahmachari K, Skalický M, Roy D, Das A, Sarkar S, et al. The combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers influence on weed growth, productivity and soil fertility of monsoon rice. PLoS One. 2022;17(1):0262586. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262586
  9. 9. Moss S. Integrated weed management (IWM): why are farmers reluctant to adopt non-chemical alternatives to herbicides? Pest Manag Sci. 2019;75(5):1205-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5267
  10. 10. Matzrafi M, Blank L, Lati RN. Selection and adaptation to weed management methods: implications for non-chemical and integrated weed management approaches. Pest Manag Sci. 2025;81(1):22-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.8463
  11. 11. Bratovcic A. Exploring non-chemical methods for sustainable weed management. Int J Agric Environ Res. 2025;11(1):129-53. https://doi.org/10.51193/IJAER.2025.11109
  12. 12. Humphries E. Mineral components and ash analysis. In: Moderne Methoden der Pflanzenanalyse/Modern Methods of Plant Analysis. 1956;468-502. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80530-1_17
  13. 13. Jackson M. Soil chemical analysis. Pentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 1973;151-4.
  14. 14. Lowry OH, Rosebrough NJ, Farr AL, Randall RJ. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951;193(1):265-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9258(19)52451-6
  15. 15. Holst DO, Cashman CJ, DeCann J, Komenda L, Lewis S, Psotka JJ, et al. Ceramic fiber for replacement of asbestos as filter aid in crude fiber determination: Collaborative study. J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 1982;65(2):265-9. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaoac/65.2.265
  16. 16. Layne E. Spectrophotometric and turbidimetric methods for measuring proteins. 1957. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0076-6879(57)03413-8
  17. 17. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedure for agricultural research. 2nd ed. Intl Rice Res Inst; John Wiley and Sons. 1984;324.
  18. 18. Rastogi M, Dhyani B, Kumar M, Singh A, Verma S. The impact of integrated weed management practices on nutrient uptake in rice (Oryza sativa L.). J Sci Res Rep. 2024;30(10):169-76. https://doi.org/10.9734/jsrr/2024/v30i102443
  19. 19. Rathod BGS, Somasundaram E. Eco-friendly weed management in organic rice (Oryza sativa L.) production. J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2019;8(6):2544-9.
  20. 20. Venkatesh B, Parameswari YS, Madhavi M, Prakash TR. Effect of weed management practices on nutrient uptake and removal in transplanted rice. Int J Environ Climate Change. 2022;12(9):16-22. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijecc/2022/v12i930734
  21. 21. Patil B, Reddy VC. Weed management practices in irrigated organic finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.). Scholars J Agric Vet Sci. 2014;1(4):211-5.
  22. 22. Prashanth R, Murthy K, Kumar VM, Murali M, Sunil C. Bispyribac sodium influence on nutrient uptake by weeds and transplanted rice. Indian J Weed Sci. 2016;48(2):217-9. https://doi.org/10.5958/0974-8164.2016.00053.8
  23. 23. Kataria K, Singh SP, Kathuria K. Studies on effect of integrated weed management practices on nutrient uptake in greengram, Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. Int J Farm Sci. 2016;6(1):33-6.
  24. 24. Głodowska M, Wozniak M. Changes in soil microbial activity and community composition as a result of selected agricultural practices. Agric Sci. 2019;10(3):330. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2019.103028
  25. 25. Bhardwaj L, Reddy B, Nath AJ, Dubey SK. Influence of herbicide on rhizospheric microbial communities and soil properties in irrigated tropical rice field. Ecol Indic. 2024;158:111534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111534
  26. 26. Soti PG, Rugg S, Racelis A. Potential of cover crops in promoting mycorrhizal diversity and soil quality in organic farms. J Agric Sci. 2016;8:42-7. https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v8n8p42
  27. 27. Singh G, Kaur H, Aggarwal N, Sharma P. Effect of herbicides on weed growth and yield of greengram. Indian J Weed Sci. 2015;47(1):38-42.
  28. 28. Adhikary P, Shil S, Patra PS. Effect of herbicides on soil microorganisms in transplanted chilli. Glob J Biol Agric Health Sci. 2014;3(1):236-8.
  29. 29. Zain NMM, Mohamad RB, Sijam K, Morshed MM, Awang Y. Effects of selected herbicides on soil microbial populations in oil palm plantation of Malaysia: A microcosm experiment. Afr J Microbiol Res. 2013;7(5):367-74. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJMR12.1277
  30. 30. Ajaykumar R, Venkitaswamy R, Kumaresan P. Agronomic response, physiological and bio-chemical composition of transplanted rice influenced by nutrient management practices. Oryza. 2023;60(1):203-12. https://doi.org/10.35709/ory.2023.60.1.12

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.