WEED CONTROL MEHTODS INFLUENCE THE GROWTH ATTRIBUTES OF WEEDS AND RADISH (Raphanus sativus L.) UNDER SEMIARID CONDITION

Weed competition can reduce the growth and yield by affecting the size and quality of radish crop. Therefore, the present study was conducted at Ornamental Horticulture Nursery, The University of Agriculture Peshawar during 2014 to study the effect of different weed control practices on growth and yield of radish. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block (RCB) Design, keeping three replications. Different weed control methods i.e. hand weeding, black plastic, canola straw and weedy check were applied for weed management in radish (cv. long white). The results showed that all the treatments significantly affected weed density m^-2, fresh and dry weed biomass, and yield components of radish such as root length (cm) and root weight (g) plant^-1. Hand weeding resulted in the highest root length (27.67 cm) and root weight plant^-1 (161.60 g), whereas significantly reduced the weed density (104 weeds m^-2), fresh weed biomass (201.66 g m^-2) and dry weed biomass (60.5 g m^-2). Therefore, it is concluded from the results that hand weeding is the only most efficient treatment in terms of weed control and growth enhancement of radish crop.