Effect of intercrops and spacings on weed suppression and yield in wheat (triticum aestivum l.) under organic conditions

A field experiment was conducted on silty clay loam soil of Organic farm of Department of Organic Agriculture, CSKHPKV, Palampur with 36 treatments of cropping systems, spatial arrangements and weed management with an objective to study the performance of various intercrops and spacings on weed suppression in wheat during the year 2010-11 & 2011-12. Cropping systems were comprised of wheat + gram, wheat + lentil and wheat + peas and wheat alone with three spatial arrangements of 15 cm, 22.5 cm and 30 cm and three weeding techniques viz. 1 handweeding, 2 handweedings and unweeded check. The interaction between cropping systems with spatial arrangements and weeding techniques was found significant for weed biomass and grain yield. Among the cropping systems, wheat + lentil with wider row spacings of 22.5 cm and 30 cm and 2 hand weedings resulted in significantly lower weed dry weight and higher weed control efficiency resulting in significantly higher wheat equivalent yield over other treatments.