R.S. Yadav

Efficacy of herbicides for control of weeds in mothbean

Mothbean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal] is a short-day and most drought tolerant rainy season legume crop, grown extensively in arid and semi-arid regions of India for grain, green fodder and green manuring purposes. Investigations revealed a loss of 30-50% in the seed yield of mothbean due to weed infestation depending upon the intensity and type of weed flora (Shekhawat et al. 2003). Hand weeding is a traditional and effective method of weed control. But untimely rains, unavailability of labour at peak time and increasing labour cost are the main limitations of manual weeding. Under such situations, the only alternative that needs to be explored is the use of suitable herbicides which may be effective and economically viable.

Socio-Economic Status of Dairy Based Women Self Help Group Members under SGSY in Rewari District of Haryana, India

In India, women are responsible for growth in livestock sector. Rural women, besides performing household work, have been traditionally and predominantly engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and dairy activities. In rural India, cattle and buffalo rearing has been traditionally been a responsibility of farm women but, women are more likely to be credit constrained, have restricted access to wage labour market and have limited decision-making and bargaining power within the household. Economic independence is essential for women’s empowerment. SHGs have emerged in order to help poor women to secure inputs like credit and other services (Chandrashekar, 2009). They work for group solidarity, selfgroup awareness and social and economic empowerment through democratic functioning. The SGSY is being implemented by the District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) with basic objective to bring the poor families (Swarozgaris) above the poverty line (APL) by providing them incomegenerating assets through a mix of bank credit and governmental subsidy through SHG The present study was conducted in Rewari and Khol block of Rewari district Haryana, with the objective to know the socio-economic status of SHG members. The data on socioeconomic variables were collected from 90 respondents drawn from 30 SHGs. The study revealed that almost all the members were land less and found to belong to middle age group (35-46 years), married, practicing dairy as major occupation, small herd size and belonging to low income group. Hence, it may be concluded that SHG members are resource poor women farmers who have taken dairy as income generating activity for livelihood security by making access to credit through SHGs K e y w o r d s

Herbicides efficacy for managing weeds in greengram and their residual effect on succeeding mustard

A field experiment was conducted at Research Farm of S. K. Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner during Kharif 2014 and 2015 to study the efficacy of preand post-emergence herbicides in managing weeds in greengram (Vigna radiata) and herbicides carryover effect on Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) grown during succeeding Rabi seasons of 2014-15 and 2015-16. Ten weed control treatments, viz. pendimethalin 1000 g/ha pre-emergence (PE), imazethapyr 50 and 70 g/ha (early post-emergence; PoE), imazethapyr + pendimethalin (ready mix) 800, 900, and 1000 g/ha pre-emergence (PE), imazethapyr + imazamox 60 and 70 g/ha, two hand weedings at 20 and 40 days after seeding (DAS) and weedy check were evaluated in greengram grown in three replications with randomized block design (RBD). Two hand weedings at 20 and 40 DAS resulted in lowest weed density of broad-leaf and grassy weed, total weed biomass at 60 days after sowing, significantly highest number of branches per plant, pods per plant, seeds per pod and seed and straw yield compared to other treatments. Imazethapyr + pendimethalin 800 g/ha PE was at par with two hand weedings in managing weeds and increasing greengram yield. Application of herbicides did not cause any adverse effect on succeeding mustard in both years.

Groundnut productivity and profitability as influenced by weed control measures

A field experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Agriculture Research Station, SK Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner during Kharif seasons of 2015 and 2016 to test the efficiency of herbicides in groundnut. The experiment comprised of 14 weed control treatments arranged in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Among the different herbicides tested, imazethapyr + pendamethalin 1000 g/ha recorded lowest weed density and weed biomass of both broadleaved and grassy-weeds and significantly highest dry matter accumulation, number of pods/plant, pod, haulm and biological yield in groundnut over all the other herbicidal treatments.