Influence of Time of Weed Removal on Maize Yield and Yield Components Based on Different Planting Patterns, the Application of Pre-Emergence Herbicides and Weather Conditions

Authors

• Dejan Nedeljković, University of BelgradeFollow
• Dragana Božić, University of BelgradeFollow
• Goran Malidža, Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, SerbiaFollow
• Miloš Rajković, Institute of Medicinal Plant ResearchFollow
• Stevan Z. Knežević, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
• Sava Vrbničanin, University of BelgradeFollow

ORCID IDs

Nedeljković: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1043-4940

Božić: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7355-8633

Malidža: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0540-842X

Rajković: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3452-9028

Knežević: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4898-0063

Vrbničanin: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9128-9652

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2025

Citation

Plants (2025) 14(3): 419

doi: 10.3390/plants14030419

Comments

Open access

License: CC BY 4.0

Abstract

The crop yield can be affected by many factors, including various levels of weed presence. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the effect of time of weed removal in combination with planting pattern and pre-emergence-applied herbicides on maize yield and yield components in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The experiments were designed in a split–split plot arrangements with three replications, which consisted of the two main plots (standard/conventional and twin-row planting pattern), two subplots (with and without pre-emergence herbicide application) and seven sub-subplots (seven weed removal timings). In the dry season of 2015, maize yield was much lower (413–9045 kg ha^-1) than in the wet 2016 seasons with yields of 5759–14,067 kg ha^-1 across both planting patterns. Yield and yield components were inversely correlated with the time of weed removal. The application of pre-emergence herbicides delayed the critical time for weed removal (CTWR), which ranged from V4 to V10 and from V3 to V11 for standard and twin-row planting patterns, respectively. Herbicides also protected various yield components, including 1000 seeds weight and number of seeds per cob.