Effect of Early Season Weed Competition Duration on Onion Yield

Resumen

Weeds are one of the main plant protection problems in onion fields. A field experiment was conducted at Mersan, South Haiti to determine the effect of early season weed competition duration on the yield of onion (Allium cepaL.). The experimental design was a randomized complete block of 7 treatments (weed-free from planting to harvest, weed competition up to 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 weeks after planting, and weed competition from planting to harvesting) with 4 replications. Onion yield decreased as the duration of early season weed competition increased. Yield loss was 14.45% when weed removal was initiated at 2 weeks after transplanting the crop, and 87.66% when the onion crop was in the presence of weeds season long.