Abstract
Understanding the critical period of weed competition is indispensable in the development of an effective weed management program in field crops. Current experiment was planned to evaluate the critical growth period of Setaria and level of yield losses associated with delay in weeding in rain-fed drip irrigated wheat production system of Saudi Arabia. Field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of weeding interval (07-21, 14-28, 21-35, 28-42 and 35-49 days after sowing) and drought stress (75% and 50% of field capacity) on Setaria growth, wheat yield and water use efficiency. Season long weedy check and well-watered (100% FC) plots were also maintained for comparison. Weeding interval and drought stress significantly (p = 0.05) affected the growth and yield of Setaria and wheat. Drought stress from 75% to 50% FC resulted in reductions of 29-40% in Setaria height, 14-27% in Setaria density and 11-26% in Setaria dry biomass. All weeding intervals except 35-49 DAS significantly suppressed Setaria growth as compared with control. Delay in weeding increased weed-crop competition interval and reduced wheat yield and yield contributors. Therefore, the lowest yield of 1836 kg ha(-1) was attained for weeding interval of 35-49 DAS at 50% FC. Water use efficiency and harvest index increased with decreasing FC levels but reduced with delay in weeding. Correlation analysis predicted negative association of Setaria density with wheat yield and yield contributors and the highest negative association was for harvest index (-0.913) and water use efficiency (-0.614). Early management of Setaria is imperative for successful wheat production otherwise yield losses are beyond economical limits.