EFFECTIVENESS OF MULCHING AND INTER-ROW SPACING ON WEED SUPPRESSION AND YIELD OF UPLAND RICE
A. D. Manthy1, S. Abdulhamid2 & I. K. Adamu1
1,3Department of Crop Science
2Department of Basic Science, Taraba State College of Agriculture, Jalingo
Email: abdulhamidsabo2@gmail.com /
tbasecomputer@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Weed infestation is one of the major constraints in rice production, hence the need to evaluate integrated weed control in its production. Field experiments were carried out at Teaching and Research Farm of Taraba state college of Agriculture Jalingo (80 54’ N 11o 22’ E) to evaluate the effect of mulching and inter-row spacing on weed control and yield of upland rice during 2018 and 2019 farming seasons. Two sets of factors were considered in the experiments, first factor consisted of three mulching treatments (no mulch, maize straw mulch and rice straw mulch) while the second factor were three inter-row spacing (25 cm, 30 cm and 35 cm) were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were collected on weed density, weed biomass, grain yield and yield components of rice. On the average, rice straw mulch reduced significantly weed density (42.18 no/m2 and 25.34 no/m2) and weed biomass (25.42 g/m2 and 13.21 g/m2) than weed density (289.88 no/m2 and 94.74 no/m2) and weed biomass (88.55 g/m2 and 49.84 g/m2) at 3 and 7 WAP, besides, rice straw mulch also recorded significantly higher average grain yield (4.19 t/ha) than no-mulch treated plots (1.587 t/ha). Although 25 cm inter-row spacing recorded significantly lower average weed density (62.86 no/m2 and 40.14 no/m2) and weed biomass (23.32 g/m2 and 16.08 g/m2) than average weed density (90.22 no/m2 and 69.06 no/m2) and weed biomass (45.40 g/m2 and 33.67 g/m2) in 30 cm inter-row spacing, the average grain yield was significantly higher (5.099 t/ha) in 30 cm inter-row spacing.Key words: weed control, rice straw, maize straw, inter-row spacing, mulching