Evaluation of herbicides for weed control in irrigated garlic (Allium sativum L.) at Samaru, Nigeria

Field trials were carried out during the dry seasons of 1995 and 1996 to identify suitable pre-emergence herbicides for weed control in garlic (Allium sativum L.) at Samaru, Nigeria. All the herbicide treatments tested effectively reduced weed infestation compared with the weedy control. Garlic plant height and shoot dry matter were depressed by oxadiazon plus cinosulfuron at 0.75+0.02 kg a.i./ha, oxadiazon plus prosulfuron at both doses and in the weedy check in the two trials. In both years, oxadiazon applied alone at 1.0, 1.5 kg a.i./ha and the mixture of oxadiazon with chloroxuron and prometryne resulted in high garlic bulb yields that were comparable to that of the hoe-weeded control. In both years, the best treatment in terms of garlic bulb yield was oxadiazon plus chloroxuron at 0.75+1.0 kg a.i./ha.