ALLELOPATHIC POTENTIAL OF AQUEOUS LEAF EXTRACTS OF PEARL MILLET (Pennisetum typhoides S. & H.) ON GERMINATION AND GROWTH OF SOME SELECTED WEEDS

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in the Postgraduate Laboratory of Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan to investigate the allelopathic effect of millet (Pennisetum typhoides S. & H.) leaves on germination and growth indices of weed species viz. signal grass, common lambsquarters, field bindweed, broad leaved dock, slender amaranth, wild melon, annual sowthistle and wild jute. Various concentrations [20 g/L (2%) and 40 g/L (4%)] of aqueous leaf extracts of pearl millet along with untreated control were tested. The data revealed that fresh root/shoot weight, fresh plant weight and root/shoot length of different weeds were significantly influenced by aqueous extracts. It was also observed that extract application comparatively showed more inhibited root growth as compared to shoots. It is concluded that aqueous leaf extracts have some allelochemicals, which showed inhibitory effects on germination and growth of weeds, but the inhibition was variable in different weed species tested. It was also found that higher concentration of aqueous extract (40 g/L) had more inhibitory effects on weeds growth and germination than the lower concentration used in this experiment. Further studies are suggested to be undertaken to confirm these findings.