Interactive effect of nutrient and weed management in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) for enhancing the productivity in Eastern India

A field experiment comprising three nutrient and six weed management practices was conducted in strip plot design with three replications during 2019 and 2020 at Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar, India to assess the effect of the treatments on weed dynamics, productivity and nutrient uptake by crop and weed. Averaged over both years, among nutrient management practices, the soil test based dose (STD: 100-40-40 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1) + green manuring (GM) of dhaincha recorded the minimum weed density of 45.3 and 64.2 number m-2 and weed biomass of 19.2 and 37.6 g m-2 at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT), respectively and the minimum N, P and K uptake of 6.4, 2.0 and 6.8 kg ha-1 by weed and the maximum N, P and K uptake of 113.6, 23.2 and 122.6 kg ha-1 by the crop, respectively. Among weed management practices, bensulfuronmethyl + pretilachlor (PE) fb HW on 35 DAT produced the minimum weed density of 25.15 and 20.66 number m-2, the minimum weed biomass of 7.70 and 8.08 g m-2 at 30 and 60 DAT, respectively and the minimum N, P and K uptake of 2.4, 0.5 and 2.6 kg ha-1 by weed and the maximum N, P and K of 117.9, 25.3 and 263.7 kg ha-1 by crop, respectively. Among nutrient management practices, the STD + GM proved to be the best with the maximum grain yield of 5562 kg ha-1. whereas the application of bensulfuronmethyl + pretilachlor (PE) fb HW on 35 DAT excelled over other weed management practices with the maximum grain yield of 5907 kg ha-1 registering 17.71 and 47.64% higher grain yield compared to the STD and the weedy check, respectively.