ALLELOPATHIC EFFECTS OF CHENOPODIUM MURALE L. ON FOUR TEST SPECIES

Abstract

The allelopathic effect of weed Chenopodium murale L. aqueous extract bioassay against seed germination and radicle elongation of four test crops i.e. Triticum aestivum L. ( Wheat), Zea mays L. (Maiz ), Cicer arietinum L. (Gram) and Vigna radiata L. (Mung) were examined. These experiments were conducted in the green house of Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi. Plant material of the weed collected from Malir agriculture field, Karachi and dried at room temperature (25 oC-30 oC) in laboratory. The experiment was conducted in sterilized petridishes. The extract of weed at 1, 3 and 5 % concentration were used to determined their effect on seed germination and radicle elongation compared to distilled water as control. Each treatment had five replicates. The aqueous extract of weed under study effected seed germination of test species and root length and pronounced allelopathic inhibitory effects, proportional to the concentration of extracts. Data analyzed using one–way ANOVA and treatments means were compared using the least significant difference (LSD) at P=0.05.