Allelopathy: A Natural Way towards Weed Management

Abstract

To meet the food requirement of the ever-growing population of the world the introduction of pesticides in agriculture was a welcome move to control obnoxious weeds below the threshold limit and thereby reduce the yield loss. But continuous use of synthetic herbicides in heavy doses creates environment pollution and increases the number of herbicide resistant weeds. Hence, researches should be done to find out some natural way for minimizing the dependency on synthetic herbicides. The objective of this article is to review the possibilities for using allelopathy to improve overall potentiality of weeds and crops in natural weed management. Allelopathy is the favorable or adverse effect of one plant on another due to direct or indirect release of chemicals from live or dead plants (including microorganisms). Although we cannot discard use of synthetic herbicides completely at the present situation but their use can be reduced up to a certain extent by utilizing allelopathic potentiality as an alternative weed management strategy for crop production as well as environmental benefits.

AUTOTOXICITY IN TOUGH LOVEGRASS ( Eragrostis plana )

“…Among all abnormalities, root necrosis is one of the most common symptoms (Ferreira and Aquila, 2000). In addition, curling of radicle axis and discoloration and lack of root hairs were noted (Bhadoria, 2011). The browning and weakening of roots are harmful effects that may indicate the action of toxic substances in the extracts (Yamagushi et al, 2011).…”

Allelopathic activity of Nepeta nuda L. subsp. nuda water extracts

“…Secondary metabolites in plants have drawn great attention due to increasing public concern against synthetic agrochemicals [1,2,3]. Different medicinal plants from Lamiaceae family have been studied for their allelopatic potential.…”

Diversity and Allelopathic Potential of Weeds among Panamanian Coffee Crops

“…Therefore, it is important to generate information that would allow farmers to distinguish between potentially useful weeds from those having only negative effects for their rational or systematic elimination (Altieri, 1995;Cherigo et al, 2012). The identification of the allelopathic properties of weeds, especially those related to the inhibition of plant germination and growth (phytotoxins), is of significant relevance because some phytotoxins could be efficient substitutes for highly toxic synthetic herbicides as those currently used in developing countries (Bhadoria, 2011).…”