TEAK (TECTONA GRANDIS) GROWTH IN RESPONSE TO WEED CONTROL TREATMENTS

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to test the efficacy of seven weed control treatments in teak (Tectona grandis) in the peninsular Indian state of Kerala. Glyphosate, paraquat, 2,4-D+ dalapon, manual weeding, ring weeding (paraquat) and ring weeding (manual) treatments were applied twice at one-year interval in a fourteen-month-old stand. Growth measurements were recorded at 5 months, 19 months and 22 months after the first application. Manual weeding produced rapid height growth at twenty two months after weeding. It was, however, statistically at par with paraquat and glyphosate applications. Paraquat at the rate of 0.8 I ha^-1 registered the highest radial growth, and was also cheaper.