Evaluation of pre and post-emergence herbicides for weed control in potato crop
Rozafa Fetahaj
, Arben Mehmeti
, Aldi Hoxha, Marigona Morina-Gashi, Zvonko Pacanoski
Abstract: The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of herbicides for weed control in potato crops in the Gjakova region of Kosovo. The experiment is set up using a randomized block system with four repetitions. There were a total of six treatments in the experiment: pendimethalin as a pre-emergence herbicide applied at two different doses, metribuzin applied both pre-emergence and post-emergence with fluazifop-p-butyl, a treatment with mechanical intervention, and a control treatment. A total of 18 weed species were documented, in the control plots dominant weed species were: Trifolium repens L. with 18.8 plants/m2, Echinochloa crus-galli L. 17.5 plants/m2, Plantago lanceolata L. 15.0 plants/m2, and Lotus corniculatus L. with 7.3 plants/m2. The morphological composition of weeds was characterized by 13 dicotyledons and 5 monocotyledons. The biological composition of weeds was predominantly characterized by therophytes at 55.6%, hemicryptophytes at 30.5%, geophytes at 11.2%, and chamaephytes with a minor representation of 2.7%. The results indicate that herbicides have effectively reduced both the number of weeds, as well as the weed dry biomass, which has consequently affected potato yields. The most efficient herbicide for reducing weed species was metribuzin, a pre-emergence herbicide, with a 92.5% efficiency, while pendimethalin, a pre-emergence herbicide at a 6.0 l/ha dose, had an efficiency of 80.4%. The highest potato yield was achieved in the plots where metribuzin pre-emergence was applied, yielding 45.3 t/ha, and pendimethalin was applied at 6.0 l/ha, yielding 28.0 t/ha.
Keywords: herbicide efficacy; metribuzin; pendimethalin; potato crop; weed species
Citation: Fetahaj. R., Mehmeti, A., Hoxha, A., Morina-Gashi, M. & Pacanoski, Z. (2026). Evaluation of pre and post-emergence herbicides for weed control in potato crop. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(3), 638–644
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| Date published: 2026-06-25
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