Crop Protection 26 (2007) 16971701

www.elsevier.com/locate/cropro

Evaluation of herbicides for weed control in sorghum

(Sorghum bicolour) in Nigeria
D.B. Ishaya , S.A. Dadari, J.A.Y. Shebayan
Department of Agronomy, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria
Received 4 January 2007; accepted 16 February 2007

Abstract
Weed infestation is one of the major threats to cereal production in the Nigerian Savanna. Two trials were conducted in 2002 and 2003
to evaluate different types of herbicides for weed control in sorghum. Among the herbicides tested, pretilachlor+dimethametryne at
2.5 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha performed best as they effectively controlled
weeds, increased crop vigour, plant height, reduced crop injury and produced higher grain yield of sorghum.
r 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Herbicides; Sorghum; Weed; Control hoe-weeding

1. Introduction
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour L.) is the most important
cereal crop in Nigeria and covers more than 45% of the
total land devoted to cereal production (Shebayan, 1982).
Most of the sorghum comes from the northern part of the
country, where the environmental conditions are very
favourable for its growth and production. Most of the farm
families in Nigeria depend on sorghum to provide reliable
harvests and adequate food security. There is, however, an
increasing concern about the sustainability of large scale
sorghum production in Nigeria, especially in the northern
Guinea savannah, because of the prevalence of weeds.
In sorghum, yield losses ranging from 40% to 80% have
been attributed to weed competition during the growth of
the crop (Lagoke et al., 1990). The commonest method of
weed control in northern Nigeria is hand hoeing. This
method is effective, but slow, tedious, costly and sometimes
not feasible because of the unavailability of labour at the
time of need. These limitations have generated a requirement for alternative control measures, especially under
large scale production. The use of pre-emergence and
post-emergence herbicides such as atrazine at 3.0 kg a.i./ha,
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: daudaishaya@yahoo.com (D.B. Ishaya).

0261-2194/$ - see front matter r 2007 Published by Elsevier

Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2007.02.013

bromoxynil at 0.47 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.04 kg

a.i./ha, dicamba
at
0.23 kg a.i./ha,
atrazine+metolachlor at
2.0 kg a.i./ha (Shebayan, 1982) was found to control weeds
in sorghum. However, atrazine may cause carry over
effects in subsequent crops under some conditions, so
alternative treatments are needed. This work was therefore
initiated with the objective of evaluating some novel preemergence and post-emergence herbicides for season long
weed control in sorghum at Samaru, northern Guinea
savanna of Nigeria with the view of nding a better
alternative to the current labourious and costly manual
method of weeding.
2. Materials and methods
Two eld trials were conducted during the rainy seasons
of 2002 and 2003, to evaluate some pre-emergence and
post-emergence weed control treatments on sorghum at
Samaru (111110 N; 071380 E) in the northern Guinea
Savannah of Nigeria.
The soil was a well drained sandy loam, having 5.4 pH,
0.68% organic carbon, 0.18 total nitrogen and 5.2% meq/
100 g soil cation-exchange capacity. The total rainfall
received during the cropping seasons was 1007.6 and
1135.4 mm in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

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D.B. Ishaya et al. / Crop Protection 26 (2007) 16971701

The experiment consisted of various doses of pre- and

post-emergence herbicides a hoe-weeded control and an
unweeded control plot, making a total of 12 treatments (as
shown in Table 1). The treatments were laid in a
Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three
times.
The sorghum seeds, variety KSV8 were sown on the
75 cm wide ridges at an intra-row spacing of 25 cm and was
later thinned to one plant per stand at 10 days after sowing.
All the pre-emergence herbicides were applied one day after
sowing while the post-emergence applications were made 2
weeks later using a conventional CP3 Knapsack Sprayer at a
2
pressure of 2.1 kg/cm and a discharge rate of 250 L/ha,
spray solution. The hand-weeded control was weeded using
hand
hoes at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing (WAS).

Pre-emergence

Dose (kg a.i./ha)

A split application of 70 kg N/ha was done 3 and 6 weeks

after sowing, whereas phosphorus at 12.9 kg P/ha and
potassium at 24.9 kg/ha were broadcast at ploughing.
2
In both the years, gross plot size was 22.5 m , whereas
2
the net plot size was 13.5 m .
The crop was harvested by cutting the stems near ground
level. The data collected were, crop vigour score, crop
injury score, weed cover score, weed dry weight, plant
height, panicle length and grain yield of sorghum, data
were subjected to analysis of variance and the treatment
means were separated by Duncans Multiple Range Test.
3. Results
3.1. Effect of weed control treatments on growth of sorghum
The results in Table 2, show that, the weedy check
treatment had the least crop vigour score of sorghum

Table 1
The herbicides used and their doses
Chemical name

169
8

Trade name

compared with all other weed control treatments in both

the years, as well as in the combined analysis. Application

169
9

169
9

D.B. Ishaya et al. / Crop Protection 26 (2007) 16971701

Oxadiazon
Oxadiazon
Cinosulfuron
Cinosulfuron
Piperophos+propanil
Prosulfuron
Pretilachlor+dimethametryne

1.0
1.25
0.05
0.075
1.5
0.05
2.5

Ronstar 250EC
Ronstar 250EC
Setoff 20WG
Setoff 20WG
Rilof S 145 g/L
Setoff 63WG
Rit extra 500EC

Post-emergence
2,4-D
Bentazon
Piperophos+cinosulfuron

2.5
1.92
1.5

Fernoxone 80SP
Basagran 450EC
Pipset 35WP

of cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha, prosulfuron at

0.05 kg a.i./ha, pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./
ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha gave
comparable crop vigour score to the hoe-weeded control in
both 2003 and in the combined analysis.
The weedy control treatment had higher crop injury
score than all other weed control treatments throughout
the experimental years and in the combined analysis.
Application of pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg
a.i./ha,
piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha and the hoeweeded control, gave the least injury score compared with
all other treatments except bentazon at 1.92 kg a.i./ha in
2003 (Table 2).

a.i., active ingredient; EC, emulsiable concentrate; WG, wettable

granules; WP, wettable powder; SP, soluble powder.

Table 2
Effect of weed control treatments on the crop vigour and injury score of sorghum at 12 WAS in 2002 and 2003 at Samaru
Dose (kg a.i./ha)

Crop vigour score

2002

Pre-emergence
Oxadiazon
Oxadiazon
Cinosulfuron
Cinosulfuron
Piperophos+propanil
Prosulfuron
Pretilachlor+dimethametryne
Post-emergence
2,4-D
Bentazon
Piperophos+cinosulfuron
d
Hoe-weeded control at 3, 6 and 9 WAS
Weedy control
SE7

Crop injury score

2003

Combined

2002

2003

Combined

1.0
1.25
0.05
0.075
1.5
0.05
2.5

8.33ab
6.56d
7.89ac
7.56bc
7.56bc
7.33c
8.56a

6.67c
5.22d
7.78ab
5.89cd
5.22d
8.44a
8.44a

7.50bc
5.89e
7.84ab
6.73cd
6.39de
7.89ab
8.50a

1.67cd
3.44b
211cd
2.44c
2.44c
4.00b
1.33d

2.22d
3.78b
2.22d
3.00c
3.00c
3.67bc
1.22ef

1.95df
3.61b
2.17cde
2.72c
2.72c
3.84b
1.28f

2.5
1.92
1.5

7.89ac
7.89ac
8.56a
8.44a
3.11e
0.271

5.78d
7.56b
8.44a
7.89ab
1.44e
0.260

6.84cd
7.73b
8.50a
8.17ab
2.28f
0.266

2.00cd
2.11cd
1.44d
1.56cd
6.22a
0.292

3.22bc
1.89de
1.11f
1.33ef
6.78a
0.234

2.61cd
2.00cf
1.28f
1.45ef
6.50a
0.263

a Crop vigour score using the scale of 19 where 9, most vigorous plants; l, completely dead plants.
b Crop injury score using scale 19 where 9, completely dead plants; l, most vigorous plants.
c Means within a column followed by different letters are signicantly different at 0.05 level of probability according to Duncan Multiple Range Test
(DMRT).
d Weeks after sowing.

Table 3
Effect of weed control treatments on plant height (cm) of sorghum in 2002 and 2003 at Samaru
Dose in kg a.i./ha

Pre-emergence
Oxadiazon
Oxadiazon
Cinosulfuron
Oinosulfuron
Piperophos+propanil
Prosulfuron
Pretilachlor+dimethametryne
Post-emergence
2,4-D
Bentazon
Piperophos+cinosulfuron
b
Hoe-weeded control at 3, 6 and 9 WAS
Weedy control
SE 7
a

Plant height (cm) at 6 WAS

Plant height at (cm) 12 WAS

2002

2003

Combined

2002

2003

Combined

1.0
1.25
0.05
0.075
1.5
0.05
2.5

71.89fa
55.78g
97.22ab
86.00de
91.67bd
87.56ce
98.44ab

59.89df
54.00i
64.56bc
63.22cd
59.22fg
63.33ce
67.33ab

65.89c
54.89d
80.89a
74.61b
75.45b
75.45b
82.89a

159.89d
122.00e
157.00d
155.33d
174.78cd
199.00bc
237.22a

155.56cd
95.89g
169.78bc
142.89df
135.00ef
128.83f
208.56a

157.73bc
108.95d
163.39bc
149.11c
154.89bc
163.92bc
222.89a

2.5
1.92
1.5

82.44e
90.44ce
95.67ac
101.56a
68.89f
1.366

58.89h
60.00df
70.11a
67.44ab
57.67h
1.270

70.67b
75.22b
82.89a
84.50a
63.28c
1.318

205.33ac
205.00ac
237.78a
225.00ab
82.11f
11.442

91.56g
146.33de
204.44a
180.00b
87.33g
5.730

148.45c
175.65b
221.11a
205.50a
84.72e
8.59

Means in a column followed by unlike letter are signicantly different at 0.05 level of probability according to Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT).
Weeks after sowing.

The results in Table 3 show that in the year 2002,

sorghum plants treated with pretilachlor+dimethametryne
at 2.5 kg a.i./ha, piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha,
and cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha were taller compared
with those of the weedy check, oxadiazon at both 1.0 and
1.25 kg a.i./ha and 2,4-D at 2.5 kg a.i./ha at 6 WAS.
In 2003 and in the combined analysis, application of
pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha,
piperophos+ cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha, cinsosulfuron
at 0.05 kg a.i./ha and the hoe-weeded control increased
plant height of sorghum compared with all other weed
control treatments. At 12 WAS, however, it was the
application of pretilachlor+dimethametyne at 2.5 kg
a.i./ha and all the post-emergence herbicides that
resulted in taller plants comparable to the hoe-weeded
control in 2002, while, in
2003 and in the combined analysis, application of the same
pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha increased plant
height over all other herbicide treatments applied to the
crop.
3.2. Effect of weed control treatments on weed
The results in Table 4 show that, application of all
herbicide treatments reduced weed cover score compared
with the hoe-weeded control and the weedy control in both
years and in the combined analysis while, the weedy
control treatment had higher weed cover score than all
other weed control treatments in 2003.
Similarly, all herbicide treatments reduced weed dry
weight compared with the hoe-weeded control and the
weedy control throughout the experimental period.
The weedy check treatment had the highest weed dry
weight compared with all other weed control treatments
(Table 4).

3.3. Effect of weed control on yield components and yield

of sorghum
The results in Table 5 show that, application of
oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha,
piperophos+propanil at 1.5 kg a.i./ha and bentazon at
1.92 kg a.i./ha produced longer panicles of sorghum comparable to the hoe-weeded control in 2002, while the weedy
control produced the shortest panicles.
In 2003, however, application of pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha and
piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha produced comparable and longer panicles than all other weed control
treatments. The weedy control had the shortest panicles
compared with all other weed control treatments.
The results show that, application of pretilachlor+
dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha gave comparable grain
yield to piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha and
cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha but higher than all other
weed control treatments in 2002.
Similarly in 2003, application of the same herbicides,
pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha increased grain yield
compared with all other weed control treatments except
oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i./ha and the hoe-weeded control.
The weedy control treatment produced the least grain yield
of sorghum compared with all other treatments (Table 5).
4. Discussion
The results showed that, the untreated plot reduced the
crop vigour and had higher crop injury score. Application
of pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha, piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha. Gave comparable
crop vigour to the hoe-weeded control and also gave the

Table 4
Effect of treatments on weed control in Sorghum in 2002 and 2003 at Samaru
Dose (kg a.i./ha)

Pre-emergence
Oxadiazon
Oxadiazon
Cinosulfuron
Cnosulfuron
Piperophos+propanil
Prosulfuron
Pretilachlor+dimethametryne
Post-emergence
2,4-D
Bentazon
Piperophos+cinosulfuron
d
Hoe-weeded control at 3, 6 and 9 WAS
Weedy control
SE 7

Weed cover score at 6 WAS

Cumulative weed dry weight (t/ha)

2002

2003

Combined

2002

2003

Combined

1.0
1.25
0.05
0.075
1.5
0.05
2.5

1.33cc
1.33c
1.56c
1.44c
2.67b
2.89b
1.11c

1.11g
1.22g
3.67c
3.00d
1.78ef
2.33e
1.11g

1.22f
1.28ef
2.62c
2.22cd
2.23cd
2.61c
1.11f

1.23c
0.96cd
0.93d
0.57e
1.06cd
1.20c
0.43e

1.89de
2.80de
2.31c
1.73de
1.68de
1.98de
1.66e

1.81b
1.88b
1.62b
1.15b
1.37b
1.59b
1.05b

2.5
1.92
1.5

2.33b
1.44d
1.11c
4.56a
4.56a
0.207

1.11g
2.22e
1.78ef
5.22b
6.78a
0.207

1.72df
1.83de
1.45ef
4.89b
5.67a
0.206

1.09cd
0.49e
0.39e
1.66b
8.43a
0.826

1.71de
1.90de
1.82de
2.96b
8.17a
0.938

1.40b
1.20b
1.11b
2.31b
8.30a
0.882

Weed cover score using the scale of 19 where 1, no weed cover at all; 9, complete weedy plot.
Tons per hectare.
c
Means within a column followed by unlike letter are signicantly different at 0.05 level of probability according to Duncan Multiple Range Test
(DMRT).
d
Weeks after sowing.
b

Table 5
Effect of weed control treatments on the panicle length and grain yield of sorghum in 2002 and 2003 at Samaru
Dose (kg a.i./ha)

Pre-emergence
Oxadiazon
Oxadiazon
Cinosulfuron
Cinosulfuron
Piperophos+propanil
Prosulfuron
Pretilachlor+dimethametryne
Post-emergence
2,4-D
Bentazon
Piperophos+cinosulfuron
Hoe-weeded control at 3, 6
b
and 9 WAS
Weedy control
SE7
a

Panicle length at harvest (cm)

Grain yield (kg/ha)

2002

2003

2002

2003

1.0
1.25
0.05 .
0.075
1.5
0.05
2.5

23.33ac
22.67bd
23.00ac
22.22cd
22.89ad
22.56bd
22.22cd

27.33c
25.89d
30.33a
25.56d
27.22c
26.00d
30.33a

2981.0bc
2734.0bc
4265.0b
3019.0bc
2861.0bc
3494.bc
4838.0a

3017.7a
2693.6c
2875.9c
1941.2g
2353.2e
2737.3c
3240.1a

2.5
1.92
1.5

21.56d
23.11ac
22.67bd
23.89a

25.11d
27.89bc
30.56a
29.00b

1908.0bc
3320.0bc
3835.0ab
3338.0bc

1743.7h
2268.2f
3349.0a
2958.6bd

12.89e
0.420

18.33e
0.400

225.0c
1109.0

207.4i
114.68

Means in a column followed by unlike letter are signicantly different at 0.05 level of probability according to Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT).
Weeks after sowing.

least injury score compared with all other herbicide

treatments in 2003 and in the combine analysis. This
increase in crop vigour and decrease in crop injury indicate
that these two herbicides, pretilachlor+dimethametryne at
2.5 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg
a.i./ ha were more selective than the other herbicides. The
result is also in line with Atangs (1997) who reported
that, rice and maize plants when grown in mixture and
treated with pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 and 3.0
kg a.i./ha were

more vigorous than plants treated with other herbicide

treatments.
Sorghum plants treated with pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at
1.5 kg a.i./ha were taller than those of the weedy control
plot and those treated with oxadiazon at both doses
(1.0 and 1.25 kg a.i./ha). This result corroborates the earlier
ndings of Sinha and Lagoke (1982) who reported that,
oxadiazon inhibits the Hill reaction of photosynthesis in

susceptible plants like sorghum and thus resulted in stunted

and poor growth.
It was obvious that application of all herbicide
treatments reduced weed cover score and reduced weed
growth compared with the control plots. This was an
indication of the ability of these herbicide treatments to
enhance season long weed control without causing
persistent injury to the crop.
The results indicated that application of herbicides like
oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha
and piperophos+propanil at 1.5 kg a.i./ha produced longer
panicles comparable to the hoe-weeded control in 2002.
In 2003, it was the application of pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha, cinosulfuron at 0.05 kg a.i./ha and
piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha that produced
longer panicles. This was a manifestation of better growth
of the crop. The result is in line with the earlier report by
Ajayi (1994) who observed that, application of pretilachlor+dimethametryne and cinosulfuron at 2.5 and
0.05 kg a.i./ha, respectively, gave longer panicles per plant
of rice than all other herbicides evaluated in the study.
The untreated treatment produced the shortest panicles
of sorghum compared with all other weed control
treatments. This may reect severe weed interference.
In the rst year all herbicides applied gave high grain
yield which was comparable to the hoe-weeded control
except pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha
which gave higher grain yield than the hoe-weeded control.
The same herbicide and piperophos+cinosulfuron at
1.5 kg a.i./ha increased grain yield compared to all other
weed control treatments except oxadiazon at l.0kg a.i./ha
and the hoe-weeded control. This showed that these
herbicides were consistent in their selectivity performance
on the crop. The result is in conformity with the ndings

of Fukushima and Manabe (1989) that, pretilachlor+

dimethametryne when applied at 2.5 and 3.0 kg a.i./ha
could give better growth, and effective weed control as well
as higher grain yield of rice when grown in mixture with
maize. This may be due to the suppressive effect of the
herbicides on weeds, that prevented any weed interference
with the crop and hence promoted greater yield throughout
the study period.
From the context of this study, it can be concluded that,
pretilachlor+dimethametryne at 2.5 kg a.i./ha and piperophos+cinosulfuron at 1.5 kg a.i./ha and cinosulfuron at
0.05 kg a.i./ha were the most effective of all the herbicides
tested.
References
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NigerianAgro CIBA Newsletter (unpublished) 2 (1), 13.
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(Zea mays L.)/rice (Oryza sativa L.) mixture. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Agronomy, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, pp. 1735.
Fukushima, Y., Manabe, H., 1989. Inuence of several rice herbicides on
plant form and panicle phase of rice. Unpublished Report of Kyushu
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Lagoke, S.T.O., Shebayan, J.A.Y., Adeosun, J.O., Iwafor, E.N.O.,
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control treatments in irrigated onion and tomatoes. In: Proceedings of
Fifth Annual Conference of the Horticultural Science Society of
Nigeria, A.B.U., Zaria, November 1982, pp. 107117.
Shebayan, J.A.Y., 1982. Differential response of Guinea Corn Varieties to
herbicides in Nigeria. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Agronomy,
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