Wild onion (Asphodelus tenuifolius Cav.) interference in lentil and chickpea crops and its management through competitive cropping

Abstract

The interference of wild onion with various densities of lentil and chickpea and its management through competitive cropping were studied under field conditions from 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 at Jabalpur, India. The observed yield loss and predicted yield loss related to wild onion indicated that wild onion was less competitive with chickpea than with lentil. As a result of intraspecies competition, the dry weight and number of seeds per plant for wild onion were reduced with increasing density. The suppressing effect of different crops on the seed rain of wild onion was in the order of pea > mustard > wheat > chickpea > linseed > lentil > French bean. Wheat, pea, and mustard were the most competitive crops against wild onion. The high shading ability of these crops was thought to contribute to the suppression of wild onion. French bean offered the least suppression while chickpea, linseed, and lentil showed moderate weed suppression.