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Parthenium hysterophorus L. (parthenium weed) is a destructive invasive weed in agroecosystems of >45 countries. Chemical control is highly effective and economical against parthenium among various weed control strategies. This two-year field study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of five herbicides applied 25 days after parthenium emergence viz., atrazine 80WDG at 360 g a.i. ha-1, atrazine + S-metolachlor 720SC (320:400) at 720 g a.i. ha-1, bromoxynil + MCPA + metribuzin 720EW (20:20:7) at 470 g a.i. ha-1, atrazine + nicosulfuron 22SC (2.5:19.5) at 385 g a.i. ha-1 and dicamba 40.6AS at 304.5 g a.i. ha-1. Application of bromoxynil + MCPA + metribuzin provided 100% control. Dicamba was the second most effective herbicide with the lowest parthenium dry weight (2.9 to 9.7 g m-2) and its uptake of N (1.5 to 4.5 kg ha-1), P (0.16 to 0.66 kg ha-1) and K (1.0 to 3.9 kg ha-1). Herbicide applications increased maize grain yield by 23 to 138%. Bromoxynil + MCPA + metribuzin at 470 g a.i. ha-1 showed superlative performance by achieving the highest grain yield (9.51 t ha-1). This herbicidal mixture was proved to be the most efficient and economical for parthenium control as it exhibited the highest marginal rate of return (706 to 750%). It is recommended that Bromoxynil + MCPA + metribuzin at 470 g a.i. ha-1 should be used for controlling parthenium in maize crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agronomic practices can improve the phenological characteristics of crops leading to greater harvestable yield. Two year field experiment was carried out on a clay loam soil to quantify the effect of different tillage practices, zero tillage (T1), minimum tillage (T2), conventional tillage (T3) and deep tillage (T4), under the application of different levels of poultry manure (PM1= zero, PM2= 5, PM3= 10, Mg ha-1) on the phenology of maize in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Days to tasseling, days to silking, tassel length and ear height were measured at the physiological maturity while days to full maturity and harvest index were measured at crop harvest during both years of study. Significantly more number of days to tasseling (52.2 and 56.2) and silking (54.6 and 56.6), more days to maturity (112.5 and 118) and greater tassel length (47.7 and 51.2 cm) were measured in the zero tillage sown crop than the other tillage practices during 2010 and 2011, respectively. More ear height position on the maize stem (85.5 and 105.5 cm), grain yield (7.9 and 9.2 tons ha-1) and maximum harvest index (46.5 and 48.3 %) were recorded in the deep tillage practice during the both years of study. Increasing poultry manure rate to the maize crop significantly increased the number of days to tasseling, days to silking and maturity, tassel length, ear height, grain yield and harvest index. This study results indicate that the tillage practices along with poultry manure application can help in achieving the full yield potential of a maize crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]