Field experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of pre-emergence herbicides on weed management in maize during kharif 2010 at Dharwad. Results indicated that oxyfluorfen either @ 0.10 or 0.15 kg per ha and atrazine @ 1.25 kg per ha as pre-emergence + one intercultivation at 30 DAS + one hand weeding at 45 DAS significantly reduced the total weed density and weed dry weight over all weed management treatments except weed free check. These treatments also resulted in significantly higher grain weight per plant (158.17, 164.82 and 159.92 g, respectively), hundred grain weight (35.01, 36.56 and 34.99 g, respectively) and grain yield per ha (10523, 10827, 10436 kg per ha, respectively). Similar trend was followed in respect of net returns per ha. Dehydrogenase activity decreased with higher doses of herbicides at 20 DAS.