Effect of Aboveground Aqueous Extracts of Anthemis Cotula on the Growth and Development of Certain Important Crops

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Anthemis cotula (Asteraceae) is a dominant invader in the agroecosystems in Kashmir Himalaya, India. However, the extent of its allelopathic effects on different crops Is particularly unknown. The present study evaluated the allelopathic potential of aboveground extract (0.5 to 4% concentration) of A. cotula on the growth performance of four important crops (viz. Avena fatua, Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum and Vigna radiata) in a laboratory bioassay. In addition, pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total phenolic content (TPC) of the extracts were also measured. In this study, the extracts (0.5% to 4% concentration) of aboveground part of A. cotula significantly (P<0.05) affected the growth characteristics of the test plants in a dose-dependent manner. Radicle length, coleoptile / plumule length, dry weight, and chlorophyll content of the test plants were found to be reduced by 30–77% with the increasing extract concentration. Moreover, the responses observed were species-specific, where O. sativa was found to be most sensitive whereas T. aestivum reflected relatively less reduction in different growth parameters in response to the aboveground extracts. Besides pH, EC and TPC contents also showed significant (P<0.05) variation with the increasing concentration of the extract. Correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between pH and the plant growth responses whereas negative relationships were observed between EC and TPC with growth parameters, particularly dry weight and chlorophyll content of different plant species. Based on the observations of the study, it can be inferred that A. cotula has substantial phytotoxic effects on the agricultural crops, especially O. sativa and A. fatua, by the leachation of potent allelochemicals.