The Effect of Alternative Weed Control Methods on Yield Parameters in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

This study focused on the significance of weed control in organic chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivation and the effectiveness of alternative weed control methods. The environmental impacts of herbicide use and the development of resistance in weeds, which are among the chemical control methods, necessitate the improvement of alternative weed control methods for sustainable agricultural practices. In this study, the effectiveness of different methods, such as organic source materials, biological control agents, mechanical hoeing and other cultural practices on weed control was evaluated. The research was carried out in the area reserved for organic cultivation in the field crops application and research area of Dicle University Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture in the 2021 growing season. The experiment was set up according to the Randomized Block Design with 3 replications and Arda chickpea was used. Weedless control, weedy control, hand plucking before flowering, hoeing before flowering, hand plucking at pod stage, hand plucking at pod stage, hand plucking before flowering + pod stage, sowing with 20 cm spacing, sowing with 45 cm spacing, whey, whey + hoeing, pickle juice and pickle juice + hoeing were applied as weed control. Plant height, fresh weight, total number of pods, total pod weight, number of full pods, number of empty pods and number of grains per plant were investigated. Consequently, mechanical practices such as hoeing and manual weed control have reduced weed pressure and increased plant yield. Hoeing treatment increased the number of full pods by 28%, grain weight by 35%, and manual weed control reduced weed pressure by 20% and increased yield by 25% compared to other treatments. In the treatment without weed control, a 40% loss in yield was observed. By comparing different control methods in the research, it will contribute to the determination of sustainable weed management strategies and increase agricultural productivity. Furthermore, different control methods should be investigated in order to develop sustainable weed management strategies.