Abstract
ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to explore the growth stimulating effect of foliage applied brassica water extract on growth and productivity of bread wheat (cv. Punjab 2011) at low and high fertilizer doses. The brassica water extract (5%) and the commercial growth regulator benzyl amino purine (BAP) (5 ppm) were applied alone and in combination at 30 and 45 days after sowing (DAS) under low fertilizer dose (125 kg ha-1 N and 90 kg ha-1 P) and high fertilizer doses (225 kg ha-1 N and 150 kg ha-1 P). Application of the brassica water extract (5%) significantly improved morphological traits such as crop growth rate, leaf elongation, leaf area index, plant height and number of productive tillers under both fertilizer regimes. Similarly, growth regulator benzyl amino purine (5 ppm) application enhanced the growth and yield components of wheat. However, maximum grain yield (6.20 t ha-1) was recorded with combined application of the brassica water extract (5%) and BAP (5 ppm) under the high fertilizer dose followed by individual application of the brassica water extract (5%) and BAP where 5.39 and 5.94 t ha-1 grain yields were recorded. Biological yield also showed an almost similar trend under the influence of the allelopathic water extract of brassica and BAP. Economic and marginal net benefits of 1521.6 and 237.0 USD ha-1 were respectively achieved with the application of the brassica water extract under the lower and higher fertilizer applications, respectively. The foliage applied 5% brassica water extract and BAP (5 ppm) was the most effective and had a stimulating impact on the growth and productivity of wheat.
Highlights
Allelopathy is responsive to the release of secondary metabolites known as allelochemicals
Growth behavior of wheat crop in response to the brassica water extract under different fertilizer regimes has been rarely studied. Because of their diverse mode of action on the physiology and morphology of plants and nutrient dynamics, the current study was aimed at examining the influence of allelopathic water extracts of brassica on wheat growth and yield, compared with Benzyl amino purine (BAP) under different fertilizer regimes
Crop growth rate (CGR) was measured by using the following formulae given by Hunt (1978) and it was measured with an interval of 15 days after 60 days after sowing (DAS)
Summary
Allelopathy is responsive to the release of secondary metabolites known as allelochemicals. Several authors extensively explored the inhibitory potential of different allelopathic crops and trees for weed management (Cheema et al, 2004; Iqbal et al, 2007; Jamil et al, 2009; Farooq et al, 2011b) These allelochemicals have potential to promote crop growth (Abbas et al, 2017b; Shah et al, 2017) and induce resistance against abiotic stresses when applied at lower concentrations (Farooq et al, 2011a, b). Seed treatment with moringa water extract increased sorghum germination, maize radical length and wheat hypocotyl length by 29.0, 77.8 and 14.5% respectively (Phiri, 2010) These secondary metabolites at low concentrations help to induce germination by breaking seed dormancy (Nickell, 1982), promote root growth by improving moisture availability and temperature regulation (Mackay and Barber, 1985), enhance mineralization of nutrients and improve their uptake (Barber, 1984). Because of their diverse mode of action on the physiology and morphology of plants and nutrient dynamics, the current study was aimed at examining the influence of allelopathic water extracts of brassica on wheat growth and yield, compared with Benzyl amino purine (BAP) (a plant growth regulator) under different fertilizer regimes
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