Effect of Orchard Floor Management Practices on Weed Population and Fruit Quality and Yield of Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch]

Abstract

An experiment with nine orchard floor management practices viz., legume intercropping (soybean-peas), turmeric intercropping, fodder intercropping (pearl millet-oats), sod culture (setaria grass), glyphosate, paraquat, weed mulch, manual weeding and weedy check was carried out at Palampur during kharif 2018 to rabi 2019-20 to study their effect on fruit quality and yield of peach. Highest weed population was recorded in weedy check in all the months and lowest weed count was observed in legume intercropping during both the years. Legume intercropping resulted in highest peach yield and quality over rest of the treatments and lowest fruit yield per tree was recorded under weedy check during both the years of study. Uninterrupted growth of weeds reduced the fruit yield by 41.13 per cent during 2019 and by 50.84 per cent during 2020. No phytotoxicity of any herbicide tested (pendimethalin, quizalofop and chlorimuron ethyl to intercrops and directed application of glyphosate and paraquat) was recorded on peach indicating that all the herbicides used were safe for managing weeds in peach orchard.