Title: Weed control efficiency of bioherbicides and their impact on grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Abstract: Among non-chemical weed management techniques, allelopathy (bioherbicides) is considered as an option for weed suppression. To study the potential of allelopathic plants water extracts as a weed management tool in wheat, a field experiment was conducted during rabi 2010 at Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan. Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design was used with split plot arrangement. There were two main plots (pre and post application) of plant water extracts and eight sub-plots containing different weed control techniques i.e., sorghum extract, sunflower extract, Parthenium extract, Common reed extract, Johnson grass extract, Rice straw extract, herbicide (Logran Extra) and a weedy check. The results showed that pre-emergence application of plant water extracts proved to be superior to their post-emergence application in respect of weed control. Pre-emergence application of Phragmites australis and Helianthus annuus gave 68 and 65% weed control, respectively. Minimum fresh and dry weed biomass of 188 kg ha-1 and 94 kg ha-1, respectively was recorded under the pre-emergence application of Phragmites australis. Sorghum gave maximum grain yield 5015 kg ha-1 in comparison to weedy check that gave only 2700.6 kg ha-1. The instant results suggest that Phragmites australis and Helianthus annuus could be successfully incorporated in weed management approaches in wheat. [Rahamdad Khan and Muhammad Azim Khan (2012). Weed control efficiency of bioherbicides and their impact on grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ). Proceedings (Vol. 1) ICASE 2012, Sept. 3-7, 2012, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.] ${imageDescription} Comment