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BANGLADESH RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS JOURNAL
ISSN: 1998-2003, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Page: 62-68, May-June, 2010
WEEDING AND PLANT SPACING EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH AND
YIELD OF BLACKGRAM
M. Asaduzzaman
1
*, S. Sultana
2
, T. S. Roy
3
and S. M. Masum
4
M. Asaduzzaman, S. Sultana, T. S. Roy and S. M. Masum. (2010). Weeding and plant
spacing effects on the growth and yield of Blackgram
. Bangladesh Res. Pub. J. 4(1): 62-68.
Retrieve from http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/admin/journal/upload/09155/09155.pdf
Abstract
An experiment was carried out at the Research Field of Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during March to June 2009 to
evaluate the impact of weeding and plant spacing on the growth and
yield performance of blackgram, The experiment was comprised of three
levels of weeding viz. W
0
=No weeding, W
1
= One weeding at 25 DAS(days
after sowing) and W
2
= two weeding at 25 and 40 DAS with four levels of
spacing viz. D
1
= 30 cm x 7 cm, D
2
= 30 cm x 10 cm, D
3
= 30 cm x 13 cm
and D
4
= 30 cm x 16 cm. The experiment was laid out Randomized
Complete Block Design with three replications. The differential weeding
and plant spacing did not show remarkable differences in dry matter
production at early stages of crop growth. Two weeding significantly
increased the number of pods plnat
-1
, number of seeds pod
-1
, seed
weight and seed yield. Two weeding contributed 56.18% and 25.23%
higher seed yield compared to no weeding and single weeding,
respectively. The spacing 30 X 10 cm showed its advantages by
producing 7.96-16.19% higher yield compared to other spacing. Two
weeding and 30 X10 cm spacing performed the best giving the highest
seed yield of 1.58 t ha
-1
. Although the highest plant spacing performed
better in yield contributing traits, comparatively higher number of plants in
unit area, better portioning of assimilates towards grain contributed
greatly to achieve better seed yield in plant spacing 30 X 10 cm.
Key words: Weeding, Spacing, Growth and Yield
Introduction
Blackgram is one of the most important pulse crops in Bangladesh. It
contains 48.0% carbohydrate, 22.23% protein, 154 mg calcium, 9.1 mg iron, 1.4 g
fat, 0.37g riboflavin and 0.42 mg thiamin in per 100 gm of Blackgram (BARI, 2005).
The green parts of blackgram can also be used as animal feed and the residues
as manure. The crop has special importance in intensive cropping system of the
country for its short growing duration (Ahmed et al., 1978). The crop is potentially
useful in improving cropping system as a catch crop due to its rapid growth and
development. In Bangladesh, blackgram ranks fourth in acreage and production
but ranks second in market price. Blackgram is cultivated in the area of 0.188
million hectares contributing 9.5% of total pulse production (BBS, 2005). However
the average yield of blackgram is very low (1.4 to 1.5 t ha
-1
) compare to other
blackgram producing countries. Such low yield of blackgram is attributed to
*Corresponding Author, e-mail: asad_sau@yahoo.com
1, 3 and 4 Department of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural Univerisity, Dhaka-120, Bangladesh.
4 Department of Agriculture, CODA, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Weeding and plant spacing effects
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63
greater weed infestation (Islam et al., 1989) and lack of marinating optimum plant
density (Babu and Mitra, 1989)
Blackgram is a less competitive against many weeds (Moody, 1978). The
most sensitive period of weed competition is between 3 and 6 weeks after sowing
and weeding onward this period decreased crop yield (Meylemas et al., 1994). In
general, yield loss due to uncontrolled weed growth in blackgram ranges from 27
to 100 %( Madrid and Manimtim, 1978). Plant density plays an important role in the
dominance and suppression during the process of competition (Hassan and
Baswaid, 2004). Ahmed et al. (1993) obtained a greater yield of blackgram at
higher density early kharif. Therefore, the experiment was conducted to find out
the effect weeding intensity and plant density on growth and yield of blackgram.
Methodology
The experiment was carried out at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from 31 March, 2009
to 9 June 2009.The experimental belongs to the Madhupur Tract (AEZ) having
shallow red brown terrace soil. The experiment consist of two levels of weeding
viz. W
1
= one weeding and W
2
= two weeding at 25 and 40 days after sowing
(DAS) along with no weeding =W
0
(control) and four levels of spacing viz. D
1
= 30
cm x 7 cm, D
2
= 30 cm x 10, D
3
= 30 cm x 13 cm and D
4
= 30 cm x 16 therefore
twelve treatment combination were W
0
D
1
, W
0
D
2,
W
0
D
3,
W
0
D
4,
W
1
D
1,
W
1
D
2,
W
1
D
3,
W
1
D
4,
W
2
D
1,
W
2
D
2,
W
3
D
13
and W
3
D
4.
The experiment was laid out in a Randomized
Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and the of the
experimental units were 4 X 3 m. BARI mash-1 was used as an experimental
material were sown on March, 2009. They seeds were placed in furrows having a
depth of 2-3 cm from solid surface. Row to row distance was maintained 30 cm
and plant to plant distances as per treatments. Urea: TSP: MP @ 45: 80: 35 were
applied during the final land preparation as sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. Weeding and thinning were down as per treatments. Pre irrigation was
done to maintain the optimum moisture conditions in the field for equal seed
germination and after sowing two irrigation were done at 15 DAS and 30 DAS for
stand establishment. Harvesting was done when 90% of the pods became brown
to black in color. The harvested pods were collected by hand picking from a pre
demarcated area of 3 m
2
at the centre of each plot. The first crop sampling was
done at 30 DAS to obtain plant dry weight and continued at an interval of 15
days. The growth and yield parameters data were recorded from ten selected
plants in each plot. The components were oven dried at 70
0
C for 72 hours to
record constant dry weights. Total dry matter was determined by the summing dry
weight of each plant. The different parameters were statistically analyzed by
MSTAT computer package program developed by Russel (1986). The mean
difference were compared DMRT (Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test) at 5% level
of significance
Result and discussion
Plant dry weight
A significant variation was found in total dry matter for different level of
weeding over time except early stage of crop growth (30 DAS) and spacing
except at 30 DAS (days after sowing). It was observed that dry matter
accumulation was increased with increased of level of weeding intensity (Figure
1). The highest dry matter was observed at 45 and 60 DAS in W
2
(two weeding)
(Figure 1) treatment followed by single weeding (2.58 g plant
-1
). Similar trend of
dry matter distribution in mungbean was also recoded by Sultana et al., (2009).
Islam et al
http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/journal/
64
Irrespective of different plant spacing, the widest spacing showed the
highest dry matter at 45 and 60 DAS (Figure 2). Dry weight of 1.28 g and 2.5 g
plant
-1
were obtained at 45 and 60 DAS respectively, from maximum plant
spacing (30 cm x 13). In contrast, spacing having 30 X 7 cm produced the lowest
amount of dry matter plant
-1
.
Medium spacing showed moderate amount of dry
matter production. In general, the differences in dry matter accumulation due to
differential spacing were smaller during early stage of crop growth (30 DAE) and it
widened as the age of the plants advanced.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
30 DAS 45 DAS 60 DAS
Days after sowing
Dry weight(g plant-1)
Wo W1 W2
Figure 1. Effects of weeding treatment on total plant dry weight of blackgram
over time (p<0.05)
The interaction effect between weeding and plant spacing on the dry
matter production was significant at 45 and 60 DAS (Table 1).The combinations
W
2
D
4
and W
2
D
3
seem to be promising at 45 and 60 DAS for the production of
higher level of dry weights plant
-1
(Table 1). At 60 DAS the combination W
1
D
4
, W
1
D
3
and W
2
D
2
also showed statistically similar level of dry matter plant
-1
as observed in
W
2
D
4
and W
2
D
3
. This means that the differences of dry matter production resulting
from the combine effects of weeding and plant spacing treatments become
prominent with the advance in age of the crop. The result was also supported by
the findings of Hamid (1989) that dry matter plant
-1
decreased progressively with
increasing plant and weed density.
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
30 DAS 45 DAS 60 DAS
Days after sowing
Dry weight( g plant-1)
D1 D2 D3 D4
Figure 2. Effects of plant spacing on the total dry weight of blackgram over time
(p<0.05)
Weeding and plant spacing effects
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65
Tbale 1. Interaction effects of weeding and plant spacing on the dry matter
plant
-1
of blackgram
Dry weight plant
-1
(g) Interaction
(Weeding X spacing)
30 DAS 45 DAS 60 DAS
W
o
D
1
0.126 1.07 d 2.00 e
W
0
D
2
0.139 0.96 d 2.02 e
W
0
D
3
0.150 1.25 c 2.08 de
W
0
D
4
0.143 1.24 c 2.11 de
W
0
D
1
0.151 1.05 d 2.06 e
W
1
D
2
0.181 1.40 b 2.27 cd
W
1
D
3
0.163 1.23 c 2.53 ab
W
1
D
4
0.153 1.33 bc 2.65 a
W
2
D
1
0.155 1.39 b 2.37 bc
W
2
D
2
0.166 1.43 b 2.50 ab
W
2
D
3
0.147 1.60 a 2.64 a
W
2
D
4
0.178 1.71 a 2.65 a
Sx 0.007 0.041 0.063
CV(%) 7.52 5.19 6.68
Effect on yield contributing characters and yield of blackgram
Intensity of weeding excreted significant effect on the numbers of pods
plant
-1
, number seeds pod
-1
, 1000-seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and
harvest index in blackgram (Table 2). In general, plant showed better
performance in seed yield contributing characters and seed yield as the level of
weeding increased, from the result that two weeding showed the highest
numbers of pods plant
-1
(14.40), seeds pod
-1
(7.47), 1000-seed weight (42.09 g),
seed yield(1.39 t ha
-1
), biological yield(3.025 t ha
-1
) and harvest index (45.59)
followed by one weeding. Among the plant attributes, the number of pods plant-
1 was greatly affected by the differential weeding treatments. The results were in
conformity with findings of Kalita et al., (2008) who reported that two weedings
tremendously increased the seed yield and yield parameters of blackgram.
Plant density significantly influenced the seed yield and yield parameters
except number of seeds pod
-1
and 1000-seed weight (Table 2) and might be due
the genetical influenced was more than the effect of plant density. The highest
number of pods plant
-1
(12.91), seed yield (1.22 t ha
-1
), biomass yield (2.803 t ha
-1
)
and harvest index (42.83%) were recorded from D
4
and D
2
respectively. Plant
density had enormous influence on the production of number of pods plant
-1
. The
number of pods plant-1 increased and seed yield decreased with the increase in
plant spacing. In contrast, optimum plant spacing (30 X 10 cm) showed the
highest harvest index and consequently produced higher seed yield. This
indicates that the optimum plant spacing containing reasonable number of
plants per unit area with optimum of pods plant
-1
gave better seed yield.
Different levels of weeding and spacing simultaneously influenced the all
yield parameters and seed yield of blackgram. The combination W
2
D
4
produced
maximum number of pods plant
-1
(18.88) followed by W
2
D
3
and W
2
D
2
. Moreover
the combination of two weeding along with 30 cm x 13 cm spacing produced
the highest number seeds pod
-1
(7.99) and 1000-seed weight (42.40 g) which were
statistically similar with the treatment combination W
2
D
3
, W
2
D
2
and W
2
D
1
. The
maximum amount of biomass yield (3.10 g) and harvest index were found when
crop plots were treated with W
2
D
2
followed by W
2
D
3
. In respect of seed yield, the
maximum seed yield (1.58 t ha
-1
) was harvested in W
2
D
2
followed by W
2
D
3
(1.40 t
ha
-1
) and W
2
D
1
(1.40 t ha
-1
) and its might be due to the fact that the highest level
of weeding and optimum plant spacing gave the highest seed yield although the
Islam et al
http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/journal/
66
total dry matter production plant
-1
increased with wider spacing. Ganiger et al.,
(2003) reported that optimum seed rate, spacing and proper management of
weed showed higher seed yield of blackgram. However, the plants of blackgram
performed poorly in respect of yield components and seed yield in combination
of no weeding and along with closer spacing.
Table 2. Effects of different levels of weeding on the yield contributing characters
and seed yield of blackgram
Level of
Weeding
No. of
pods
plant
-1
No. of
seeds
pod
-1
1000-seed
weight
(g)
Seed
yield
(t ha
-1
)
Biomass
yield
( t ha
-1
)
Harvest
Index (%)
Wo 7.12 c 6.26 b 41.33 b 0.89 c 2.405 c 36.44 c
W
1
10.10 b 7.38 a 41.68 ab 1.11 b 2.650 b 41.39 b
W
2
14.40 a 7.47 a 42.09 a 1.39 a 3.025 a 45.59 a
Sx 0.038 0.178 0.303 0.029 0.016 0.906
CV (%) 7.22 8.75 7.49 10.84 7.02 6.06
Table 3 Effects of different levels of spacing yield contributing characters and
seed yield of blackgram
Level of
Spacing
No. of
pods
plant
-1
No. of
seeds
pod
-1
1000-seed
weight
(g)
Seed yield
(t ha
-1
)
Biological
yield
( t ha
-1
)
Harvest
Index (%)
D
1
9.16 d 6.846 41.52 1.13 b 2.800 a 40.02 b
D
2
9.97 c 6.939 41.71 1.22 a 2.803 a 42.83 a
D
3
10.13 b 7.121 41.75 1.12 b 2.667 b 41. 62 ab
D
4
12.91 a 7.240 41.81 1.05 b 2.503 c 40.08 b
Sx 0.043 0.205 0.348 0.033 0.018 1.046
CV(%) 7.22 8.75 7.49 8.44 7.02 6.06
Table 4 Interaction effects of different level weeding and spacing on the yield
contributing characters and seed yield of blackgram.
Interaction
Weeding x
Spacing
No. of
pods
plant
-1
No. of
seeds
pod
-1
1000-
seed
weight
(g)
Seed
yield
(t ha
-1
)
Biomass
yield
( t ha
-1
)
Harvest Index
(%)
W
o
D
1
5.39 j 5.80 d 41.36 b 0.95 h 2.55 de 37.25 de
W
0
D
2
6.66 i 6.24 cd 41.42 b 0.91i 2.46 ef 36.99 de
W
0
D
3
7.82 h 6.55 b-d 41.30 b 0.88 g 2.39 f 36.82 e
W
0
D
4
8.62 g 6.44 b-d 41.23 b 0.82 e 2.22 g 34.68 e
W
1
D
1
8.63 g 7.45 ab 41.47 ab 1.12 f 2.76 c 40.57 cd
W
1
D
2
11.22 d 7.28 a-c 41.68 ab 1.18 e 2.74 c 43.06 bc
W
1
D
3
10.80 e 6.83 a-d 41.77 ab 1.08 d 2.61 d 41.37 bc
W
1
D
4
9.747 f 7.97 a 41.81 ab 1.06 d 2.49 ef 40.56 cd
W
2
D
1
12.19 c 7.28 a-c 41.74 ab 1.32 b 3.10 b 42.25 bc
W
2
D
2
14.20 b 7.30 a-c 42.04 ab 1.58 b 3.20 a 48.44 a
W
2
D
3
14.33 b 7.31 a-c 42.18 ab 1.4 c 3.00 b 46.66 a
W
2
D
4
18.88 a 7.99 a 42.40 a 1.27 a 2.80 c 45.00 ab
Sx 0.075 0.355 0.605 0.277 0.032 1.812
CV (%) 7.22 8.75 7.49 8.44 7.02 6.06
Weeding and plant spacing effects
http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/journal/
67
Dry weight of weed
One weeding was done at 25 DAS and the highest weed biomass (4.77 g)
was recorded in highest spacing and that of lowest in the closer spacing(Figure
3). This indicates that weed infestation become sever in wider spacing where
competition reduce for the space, light, as well as above below and ground
resources. Again, two weeding was done at 25 and 45 DAS where maximum
weed biomasses were removed from moderate spacing (30 X 10 cm). Thereafter,
weed infestation reduced considerably when spacing again increased weed
biomass indicating plant spacing must be maintain in such a way that crop-weed
competition would be minimal that eventually contributed greatly in increasing
crop yield.
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
25 DAS 25 DAS 40 DAS Total
Days after sowing
Weed biomass(g m-1)
W1D1 W1D2 W1D3 W1D4 W2D2 W2D3 W2D4
Figure 3. Dry biomass of weed population (g m
-1
) at 25 and 40 days after sowing
according to the combination of treatments. (p<0.05)
Conclusion
The results reveal that weeding intensity and plant spacing had significant
effects on the growth and yield of blackgram. Two weeding and maintaining of
30 X 10 cm plant spacing was found promising and gave better seed yield.
Weed removal as well as maintaining plant spacing for reducing crop-weed
competition contributed much to achieve better yield in blackgram. This result
need to be verified in different agro-ecological zones of Bangladesh.
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