TY - JFULL AU - Kalyanasundaram.D. and Kavitha. S PY - 2012/10/ TI - Effect of Butachlor on the Microbial Population of Direct Sown Rice T2 - International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering SP - 777 EP - 780 VL - 6 SN - 1307-6892 UR - https://publications.waset.org/pdf/14368 PU - World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology NX - Open Science Index 69, 2012 N2 - Field experiments were conducted at Annamalai University Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy; to device suitable weed control measures for direct seeded puddled rice and to study the effect of the weed control measures on the soil microbial population. The treatments comprised of incorporation of pressmud @ 6.25 t ha-1 and application of herbicide butachlor @1.5 kg a. i. ha- 1 with and without safener 4 days after sowing (DAS), 8 DAS alone and also in conjunction with hand weeding at 30 DAS. Hand weeding twice and a weedy check were also maintained. At maximum tillering stage, the population of bacteria was significantly reduced by butachlor application. The injury to microbes caused by herbicide disappeared with the advancement of crop's age and at flowering stage of crop, there was no significant difference among the treatments. The fungal and actinomycetes population remained unaltered by weed control treatments at both the stages of observation. ER -