Weed Management Strategies in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum): A Review

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is one of the most important pulse crops but it’s productivity in India is quite low. There are various reasons for low productivity. Weed control is the basic requirement and the major component of crop management. Weeds on an average reduce the crop yield by 40-87 per cent. Deciding time to control weeds requires detailed knowledge of the weed populations in the field. Different management practices like altering spacing, competitive cultivars, etc. can help in enhancing the productivity. With the world entering the precision-farming era, more emphasis is being put on the use of post-emergence herbicides. Application of two or more herbicide at the same time or as a double knockdown and integrating with hand-weeding provides desirable control of different weed species besides reducing the hazard of chemical weed control.