Impact of combined application of sorghum and mulberry water extractson broad leaf weeds and yield attributes of wheat

2017 International Journal of Biosciences  
Wheat has prime importance being a staple food of the region. Its production is hindered by a number of factors; the most important is weed infestation. Allelopathy is an organic and environment friendly approach to control the weed infestation in agronomic crops. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the allelopathic potential of mulberry and sorghum water extracts at different concentrations against noxious broad leaf winter weeds like Chenopodium album L. and Convolvulus arvensis L.
more » ... wheat crop. Sorghum and mulberry water extracts in different concentrations were applied 30 days after sowing (DAS) of wheat. Weedy check plot was considered as control for comparison. All the treatments significantly reduced the weed infestation but maximum C. arvensis L. density was reduced by combine application of SWE and MWE @ 18 L ha -1 of each by 49% and 56% at 45 and 60 DAS respectively. Application of sorghum water extract (SWE) @ 36 L ha -1 reduced maximum C. album density by 48% and 52% at 45 and 60 DAS respectively as compared to control. Similarly combine application of SWE and MWE @ 18 L ha -1 of each showed fairly better results regarding number of grains per spike (45) and grain weight (35.79) as compared to control. Results showed that combined application of SWE and MWE @ 18 L ha -1 of each had maximum allelopathic potential with highest net benefits while herbicide and hand weeding were uneconomical due to higher cost and lower net benefits.
doi:10.12692/ijb/11.5.245-252 fatcat:hpn7nslilbdnrbrz3hcpz4zedy