Improvement of the growth, grain yield, and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrition of grain corn through weed control

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Abstract
In the course of an experiment in Arganda del Rey (Autonomous Community of Madrid), a herbicide was tested in a grain corn field heavily infested with weeds. The herbicide, a mixture of metolachlor and atrazine, was applied when the corn had developed eight leaves. There was a great variety of weed species and their distribution in the plots depending on the climatic conditions. The control achieved with the herbicide was high, 100% in 1992 and 90.5% in 1993. Weed control improved the growth, grain yield, number of grains per ear, 1,000 grain weight, ? grain content, total uptake of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) by the plant, and ?, ? and ? translocation efficiency to the corn grain. Per 100 g/m2 of additional weed dry weight, there was a grain yield decrease of 98.2 kg/ha as well as a decrease of the total uptake of N, P, and ? of 14.6, 2.7 and 9.5 kg/ha, respectively, by the corn plant.