Integrated weed management in rainfed groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)

An experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 1996, 1997 and 1998 under rainfed conditions on integrated weed management in groundnut (Arachi s hypogaea L.) in Alfisols of Triupati. Pre-emergence application of pendim ethalin, metolachlor, oxadiazon either at higher or at lower concentration + hand-weeding at 30 days after sowing effectively controlled the weed popu lation and reduced the weed density compared with the unweeded control. Amo ng the herbicides tried, pendimethalin 0.75 kg ai/ha applied at pre-emergen ce + 1 hand-weeding at 30 days after sowing had a pronounced effect on cont rol of weeds, reduced the weed dry matter and led to higher yield attribute s, pod yield, weed-control efficiency, lower benefit : cost ratio and highe r and weed Index and all these parameters were comparable to that of hand-w eeding twice at 20 and 40 days after sowing.