Allelopathic Influence of <i>Quercus</i> Species on Performance of Traditional Food Crops of the Western Himalayan Region

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to assess the allelopathic effect of three Quercus species viz., Q. leucotrichophora , Q. floribunda and Q. serrata on germination and radicle-plumule growth of small millets ( Echinochloa frumentacea , Eleusine coracana and Amaranthus caudatus ) and one cereal crop wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) which are the major agricultural hill crops through laboratory bioassay. The aqueous extracts were prepared from the leaf and bark of the selected Quercus species and diluted to get 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100% concentrations. When increasing concentrations of leaf and bark extracts from 10 to 100%, it inhibited the germination and growth performance of test crops. Among the test crops, T. aestivum and E. frumentacea were found most susceptible while E. coracana and A. caudatus were the most resistant test crops. The leaf extracts were found to be more toxic in inhibiting germination and radicle-plumule growth of test crops as compared to bark extracts. The importance of these tree crops as prominent agroforestry tree species decreased in order Q. leucotrichophora < Q. floribunda < Q. serrata respectively Therefore, the results obtained within the scope of our study yielded sufficient preliminary evidence for considerable allelopathic effects from Q. floribunda and Q. serrata .