Effect of straw mulch and herbicides on weeds and productivity of summer blackgram

A field experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Regional Research Station, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India during summer season of 2024 and 2025. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of various mulches and herbicides in improving the yield through effective management of weed flora in summer blackgram. The study was laid out in a randomized complete block design replicated four times with twelve treatments. The lower total weed density and biomass and higher blackgram yield attributes and yield with highest net returns were recorded with pre-emergence application (PE) of pendimethalin 750 g/ha followed by (fb) sugarcane trash mulch 5 t/ha which was statistically at par with pendimethalin 750 g/ha PE fb paddy straw mulch 5 t/ha, pendimethalin PE fb post-emergence application (PoE) of imazethapyr at 40 days after seeding (DAS), pendimethalin 750 g/ha PE fb imazethapyr + imazamox 40 g/ha PoE at 40 DAS and hand weeding twice at 20 and 40 DAS. There was no residual effect of herbicides applied in summer blackgram crop on succeeding maize crop