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Pak. J. Bot., 48(3): 1197-1202, 2016. |
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Updated: 16-06-16 | ||||
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ALLELOPATHIC SORGHUM WATER EXTRACT HELPS TO IMPROVE YIELD OF SUNFLOWER (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L.)
SABIR HUSSAIN SHAH1, 2*, EJAZ AHMAD KHAN2, HUSSAIN SHAH3, NADEEM AHMAD4, JABBAR KHAN5 AND GHAZANFAR ULLAH SADOZAI2
Abstract: Allelopathy provides eco-friendly environment in managing weeds by reducing the use of synthetic herbicides that cause environmental pollution and herbicide resistance problems. Therefore, weeds have been controlling by plant derived organic compounds as an alternative of inorganic herbicides since the last two decades. In this study, sorghum aqueous extracts were applied individually as well as accumulatively with reduced levels of Dual Gold® (S-Metolachlor) as foliar sprays in sunflower at 50, 70 and 90 DAS. For comparison, standard level of S-Metolachlor was also applied as foliar sprays along with weedy check. The highest reduction of total weed density (93.7%) was recorded by three sprays of sorghum aqueous extracts at rate of 15 L/ha mixed with 1/3rd S-Metolachlor at 1.6 L/ha as foliar applications. This reduction rate was statistically similar to one that was obtained by standard level of S-Metolachlor (1.6 L/ha). The highest achene yield was achieved by applying three foliar sprays of aqueous sorghum extracts along with reduced doses of S-Metolachlor, which was almost similar to full recommended dose of S-Metolachlor. These findings demonstrate that allelopathy offers environment friendly and economical opportunity for weed control in sunflower reducing the dependence and cost of herbicides.
Key words: Allelopathy; Dual Gold®; Sorghum
aqueous extracts; Sunflower; Yield improvement 1Department of Agricultural Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan 2Department of Agronomy, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan 3Crop Diseases Research Institute (CDRI), NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan 4PARC Institute of Advanced Studies in Agriculture (PIASA), NARC Islamabad, Pakistan 5Department of Biological Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan *Corresponding author e-mail: sabir.hussain@aiou.edu.pk |
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