Abstract
Seed germination under field conditions is highly influenced by the presence of other plants. Allelopathy is an important mechanism of plant competition, by producing phytotoxins to the plant environment in order to decline other plants’ growth. Soil sickness problem in farm lands is also known as an allelopathic effect or even autotoxicity. The toxicity of released allelochemicals by a plant in the environment is attributed to its function of concentration, age and metabolic stage. In this study we investigate the effect (5, 20, 35 and 50 g l -1 ) of leaf, stem and root water extract of sorghum on seed germination and seedling growth of mung bean. The results of the experiment showed that allelopathic effect of different concentrations was not significant for germination percentage, but germination rate and mean germination time decreased significantly by increasing the concentration of allelopathic extracts; also, there was a clear allelopathic effect of sorghum extract on seedling growth of mung bean. 50 g l -1 sorghum stem extract exhibited the highest inhibitory effect on root and shoot growth of mung bean. Among all parts of sorghum, stem extracts showed the highest allelopatic effect on seedling growth. Root extract showed higher inhibitory effect than leaf extracts.
Highlights
Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important legume crop grown in Iran and has high nutritious value due to its high protein content
The highest germination percentage was observed in control treatment and the lowest was observed at 20 g l-1 of stem and root extract
The highest germination rate was observed at 20 g l-1 leaf extract, which had no significant difference with control treatment, and the lowest was observed at 50 g l-1 stem extract (Fig. 2)
Summary
Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important legume crop grown in Iran and has high nutritious value due to its high protein content. This warm season legume originated from India and is still grown on large areas there; it is cultivated in several countries from Asia, Africa, and South America (Myers, 2000). Sorghum halepens (L.) is a summer, large, perennial grass which could propagate by its own seeds or rhizomes It belongs to the Mediterranean region, but Sorghum halepens has become well adopted in warm regions of the world (McWhorter, 1989). This study was conducted in order to evaluate the allelopathic potential of sorghum aqueous extract on seed germination characteristics and seedling growth of mung bean
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