Effect of weed management systems on tomato (lycopersicon esculentum mill.) yield in herat province, afghanistan

Various weed management techniques were compared for efficacy and effect on tomato yield in 2014 field studies in Herat, Afghanistan. All weed management treatments resulted in lower dry weights of weeds compared to the untreated weedy control. Weed weights in plots treated with metribuzin were significantly higher than those in other management treatments but lower than in weedy plots. All management treatments, except metribuzin, resulted in higher yields than in unweeded. Hand weeded tomatoes had the highest yield which was significantly greater than yield from tomatoes in the metribuzin, organic mulch and unweeded treatments but similar to black plastic mulch and glyphosate. Major weeds were Amaranthus retroflexus, Solanum nigrum, Portulaca oleracae, Chenopodium album, Cyperus esculentus, grasses and Convolvulus arvensis. The best control of these weeds was with glyphosate and the mulches (organic and black plastic), however, only glyphosate controlled C. esculentus and metribuzin was weak on S.nigrum and grasses.