Effect of plant density, trifluralin and mechanical control on weed control and fennel yield in Khuzestan province

Fennel, scientifically named Foeniculum vulgare L., is one of the most important and widely used medicinal plants of the Apiaceae family. This condition ultimately affects its performance, reducing it.

Therefore, in order to evaluate weed control and boost performance via plant density, trifluralin herbicide, and mechanical control, an experiment was conducted in the form of randomized complete blocks with three factors and three replications in the Faculty of Agriculture, Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 2019-2020. Tested factors included mechanical control at two levels (without cultivator and double cultivator), plant density at three levels (6, 12, and 24 plants per square meter) and application of trifluralin herbicide at three levels (zero as a weed control), 1.5, and 3 liters per hectare).

The results of this study showed that treatment with (density of 24 plants per square meter of fennel and 1.5 liters per hectare of trifluralin and with 2 cultivators) did not show any significant difference from the abovementioned treatment.

Therefore, to reduce the use of herbicides, a dose of 1.5 liters of trifluralin can be used instead of a dose of 3 liters, along with 2 cultivators. The highest economic yield of fennel (1313 kg/ ha) belonged to the two plots above. This study showed that the highest essential oil was observed in double cultivator plots by 9.5% and the lowest in uncultivated plots by 4.76%, indicating the effectiveness of the cultivator compared to other factors in the production of essential oil.