Herbicidal Potential of Some Dry Land Plants Against Lathyrus aphaca (L.), Winter Season Weed

ABSTRACT: Dry land plants owing to their capability to grow under stressful environment have shown higher allelopathic potential as compared to cultivated plants. An experiment was conducted to investigate the herbicidal potential of aqueous extracts of four dry land plants viz. fruit and vine of Citrullus colocynthis, and above ground parts of Rhazya stricta; Crotalaria burhia and Calligonum polygonoides, with four concentrations (25, 50, 75 and 100%) of initially prepared extracts against Lathyrus aphaca, a common weed of wheat in the studied region. These plants were collected from dry land area (30.03° N and 70.38° E, 129 m above sea level, almost desert conditions) of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. All the four plants exhibited pronounced herbicidal potential with 9 to 91% suppression of different parameters in L. aphaca). Maximum inhibition was recorded in germination (36-91%). Significant suppression in leaf count (9-65%), shoot length (12-59%), root length (4-62%), shoot fresh weight (17-71%), root fresh weight (10-60%), shoot dry weight (15-72%), root dry weight (13-64%), and nodule numbers (34-89%) was also observed. The highest inhibition was exhibited by R. stricta followed by C. colocynthis: fruit. However, in case of nodulation maximum suppression was produced by C. burhia extract. Least suppressant activity was observed for the C. polygonides extract. These results encourage the potential use of locally available dry land plants possessing strong allelochemical properties for nonchemical control of weeds ultimately reducing reliance on chemical control.

Exploring the Herbicidal Potential of Achyranthes aspera Against Some Weeds

ABSTRACT: The phytotoxic composition of Achyranthes aspera was identified through HPLC, and its herbicidal potential was investigated against two narrow leaf weeds viz., Phalaris minor Retz. and Avena fatua L.; and four broad leaf weeds viz. Lathyrus aphaca L., Vicia sativa L., Convolvolus arvensis L. and Asphodelus tenuifolius L. through bioassays. Weed seeds were grown in the aqueous extracts of various plant parts (roots, leaf, stem, fruit and whole plant) of A. aspera at 5% (w/v) concentration. The extracts of all plant parts caused significant reductions with differential degree in germination percentage and mean germination time. Phalaris minor, A. fatua, L. aphaca, V. sativa and A. tenuifolius completely failed to germinate whereas C. arvensis showed the lowest GP (20%) in response to 5% fruit extract of A. aspera. Inhibition of seed germination of all weeds was higher with the fruit extract than with the root, stem, leaf and whole plant extracts of A. aspera. Seed germination of all narrow leaf weeds was completely inhibited at the 5% fruit extract of A. aspera. The highest phytotoxic inhibitory effect of A. aspera fruit extract was proved to be due to the presence of gallic acid (88.4 mg kg-1), caffeic acid (519.2 mg g-1) and m-coumaric acid (51.4 mg kg-1) as assessed by their HPLC analyses. The study, therefore, showed that A. aspera exerts an inhibitory effect on germination of weeds and can be further explored as a pre- or post-emergence herbicide to provide natural alternative to chemical herbicides in the future.

Germination Ecology of Lathyrus aphaca, a Problematic Weed of Wheat Crop under Semi-Arid Conditions of Pakistan

ABSTRACT: Lathyrus aphaca is an aggressive dicotyledonous weed. The effect of different agroecological components/factors on the germination ecology of this weed was explored under a glasshouse and laboratory condition in 2014. The germination response of L. aphaca was lower at high temperature while maximum seed germination was found at 15/12 oC (day/night). Light significantly stimulated L. aphaca germination; nevertheless, substantial germination occurred under dark conditions. More than 86-90% of L. aphaca seeds germinated at pH level of 6.2-7.5. A significant quantity of seed germinated at 250 mM NaCl. There was no germination at -1 MPa. When the temperature was lower than 20/15 oC (day/night) initiation time of germination and germination index (GI) decreased but time to 50% germination (T50) and mean germination time (MGT) increased. Darkness resulted in increased time to start germination, T50, MGT and decreased GI in L. aphaca when compared with the 10 and 12 h photoperiods. The pH of 6 and above 7 enhanced germination time, T50, MGT but decreased GI. Salt stress above 100 mM increased time to germination, T50, MGT but reduced GI. Osmotic potential above -0.4 MPa increased initial germination time, T50 and MGT as well as decreased germination index (GI) of L. aphaca. Increased seed depth in soil lowered germination percentage and GI but enhanced initial germination time, T50, MGT. It was concluded that L. aphaca can grow over a wide range of agroecological/environmental conditions. These results may aid the development of agronomic tools and strategies for weed management in arable crops for yield enhancement.

Azyarpaq gülülcə (lathyrus aphaca L.) bitkisinin farmakoqnostik tədqiqinin bəzi nəticələri

Əczaçılıq elminin qarşısında duran mühüm problemlərdən biri bitki xammalında bioloji fəal maddələrin axtarılması,alınmış maddələr əsasında səmərəli və effektiv dərman vasitələrinin yaradılmasıdır.Ekoloji dəyişikliklər,eləcə də insan amilinin təbiətə təsiri nəticəsində ofisinal dərman bitkilərinin ehtiyatı azalmaqda davam edir. Azərbaycan florası öz zənginliyi ilə fərqlənir və müxtəlif fitopreparatların hazırlanması üçün əvəzedilməz mənbədir.Lakin əksər bitkilər farmakoqnostik və farmakoloji baxımdan öyrənilməmişdir.

Lathyrus aphaca L.: the distribution, habitats and remarks on the status of the species in Poland

<em>Lathyrus aphaca</em>, which is in Poland considered to be an ephemerophyte recorded mainly in the north-west and the south-west, has lately been observed in arable fields in the south of the country. Recent and historical data on the distribution of the taxon in Poland are presented. Original relevés conducted in arable fields in Poland are analysed and compared to those from the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia. The current status of <em>L. aphaca </em>in the Polish flora is discussed.