Allelopathic Effects of Selected Weed Species on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

Abstract

A laboratory experiment was conducted at the plant physiology division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) during 2019-20 to assess the allelopathic effects of some selected weed species on seed germination and seedling growth of mungbean. Four weed species viz., Durba (Cynodon dactylon), White cock’s comb (Celocia argentia), Shyama (Echinochloa crusgalli), Shak notae (Amaranthus viridis) were used for mungbean (BARI Mug 6). Boiled and un-boiled weed extracts reduced the germination and primary growth of mungbean. The ranking of weed species in respect of inhibitory effect on seed germination of mungbean was Celocia argentia (33.4%) > Cynodon dactylon (45.4%) > Amaranthus viridis (86.3%) > Echinochloa crusgalli (88.3%). Durba (Cynodon dactylon) and White cock’s comb (Celocia argentia) had strong detrimental effect on primary growth of mungbean. The extracts of all the parts of weeds inhibited germination and primary growth of this crop. The relative efficiency of inhibition of germination and primary growth by different weed extracts was in the order of stem > whole plant > leaf > root. The reduction of germination and primary growth increased with increasing extract concentrations. So, it could be suggested that Cynodon dactylon and Celocia argentia had strong detrimental effect on mungbean. Therefore, the cited weeds must be taken into well care and it should be avoided in seed bed for growing Mungbean seedlings. Further studies need to be carried out to explore the effects of allelopathy of selected weeds on seed germination and seedling growth of mungbean.