Weeding Intensity and Plant Population Affect Yield and Yield Components of Food Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.)

Abstract The most important crop in Jimma Geneti District, as well as Ethiopia, is food barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). However, because of poor agronomic techniques such as incorrect seed rates, weed problems, and other factors, its production is extremely low. Farmers in the Jimma Geneti district of Western Ethiopia have been using the earliest seed rate recommendation for their local area and have been producing with no regard for weeding, which has limited the productivity of food barley; the purpose of this study was to identify the optimum plant population required to increase production and productivity of food barley around the study area, as well as to identify an appropriate frequency of weeding in the study area in 2020 cropping season. The first factor was seed rate at four levels (115,125,135 and 145) kg ha− 1, and the second factor was weeding frequency at three levels (FP = Farmer's Practice, 1W = one weeding thirty days after the emergency; 2W = second weeding, twenty-five days after the first weeding) were utilized. The study found that the main effect and interaction effect of weeding frequency and seed rate had a significant (P < 0.01) impact on effective tiller number, plant height, spike length, biomass weight, grain yield, straw yield, harvest index, and 1000 kernel weight. Days to 90% physiological maturity and number of kernels per spike were both significantly (P < 0.01) affected by the main effects of weeding frequency and seed rate, whereas the interaction effect of weeding frequency and seed rate affected both considerably (P < 0.05). The primary effects of weeding frequency and seed rate were significantly (P < 0.01) affected days to 50% heading and weed relative density; however, their interaction effect of weeding frequency and seed rate was not significant. The highest grain yield 4750 Kg per hectare was with 145 kg seed rates and a 2nd cycle weeding following the 1st weeding. Guizotia scabra, the most prominent weed species coexisting with food barley, had the highest relative density of 20.89%. According to the present output and gross net benefit budget analysis, the highest net benefit 51015 ETB was obtained from 145 kg ha− 1 seed rate with two times weeding following the first weeding, with grain yield increments of 61.41% over farmers practice. As a result, because this experiment was conducted at a single location for a single season, it must be repeated at other locations throughout the season to achieve a definitive conclusion.