Weed Management in Summer Greengram (Vigna radiata L.)

Pulses are considered as an important part of food crops occupying a unique position in agriculture. In the country like India, where people are predominantly vegetarians, pulses are main source of protein and thus gain vital importance in daily diet. Greengram is one of the major pulse crops in India which is cultivated in arid and semi-arid region. Weed problem is one of the major barriers responsible for low productivity of greengram because, weed competes with the crop for moisture, nutrients, space, light etc. Moreover they increase production cost, harbors insects and plant diseases organisms, decrease quality of farm produce and reduce values of the land and farm produce. Herbicides used alone or in combination with other weed control techniques reduce weed crop competition and the risk of weed growing unchecked in period of adverse weather or soil condition that would hinder the use of more traditional means of weed control. Owing to little work done particularly on weed management in summer greengram, the present experiment was conducted.