IMPORTANCE VALUE INDICES OF WEEDS INFESTING MAIZE CROP AT THE NEW DEVELOPMENTAL FARM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

A field survey was carried out to highlight the most important and problematic weeds of maize crop at the New Developmental Farm of the University of Agriculture, Peshawar. The data were recorded on relative weed density (RWD), relative weed frequency (RWF) and Importance value indices (IVI) of weeds. Results showed that maize fields in the farm were mostly infested with Trianthema portulacastrum, Digiteria sanguinalis, Echinochloa crus-galli, Sorghum halepense, Cynodon dactylon, Euphorbia prostrata, Xanthium strumarium, Rumex crispus, Cyperus rotundus and Digera arvensis. The highest RWD (50.16%) and RWF (86.6%) were recorded for Trianthema portulacastrum. The lowest value of RWD was noted for Cyperus rotundus (0.38%) and lesser RWF (0.11%) for Digitaria sanguinalis. The data showed that the highest IV (69.38) was calculated for Trianthema portulacastrum while for Digera arvensis it was the lowest value (0.88). This study provided very helpful knowledge to the scientific community about weed flora to design a solid integrated weed management plane in maize crop in the target area.