Chemical Management of Common Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Weed in Rice Fallow Black Gram in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh

In Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh Vicia sativa (common vetch) weed is major constraint for Black gram cultivation in Rice fallow situations. Manual weeding is followed for its management which is high labor intensive and increases cost of cultivation, sometimes due to scarcity of labour delayed weeding severely affects crop yields. District Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centre (DAATTC) Vizianagaram, conducted four front line demonstrations on chemical control of Vicia sativa L. (common vetch) in rice fallow black gram for two consecutive years during rabi 2012-13 and 2013-14. Chemical weed management of Vicia weed with Acifluorfen 16.5 % + Clodinafop-p-propagryl 8 % EC (Iris 24.5% EC) was sprayed on blackgram at the rate of 1.5 ml L-1at the age of 25 days old crop as post emergence herbicide reduced cost of cultivation by 22.6 percent. The chemical weed management resulted in increased blackgram seed yield of 15.46 percent compared to manual weeding. Gross and net returns were significantly more in chemical weed management compared to manual weeding. The average benefit cost ratio in chemical weed management in rice fallow blackgram was 2.19 compared to 1.55 in manual weeding.