Phytotoxic Effects of Some Agro-Forestry Trees on Germination and Radicle Growth of Cicer arietinum Var.-Pusa-256

Abstract: Decline in crop yield in cropping and agro-forestry system in recent years has been attributed to allelopathic effects. Plants may favorably or adversely affect other plants through allelochemicals, which may be released directly or indirectly from live or dead plants. The objective of this study was to examine and quantify the nature of interference of aqueous leaf extracts of Ficus infectoria, Emblica officinalis and Acacia leucophloea on seed germination and radicle growth of Cicer arietinum and to identify morphological trait for allelopathic interference assessment of chickpea seedlings. Aqueous leaf extract of all three tree species significantly decreased germination percentage and increased mean germination time of Cicer arietinum 1 1 particularly at concentrations of 30 g L and 45 g L respectively. Similarly radicle growth decreased significantly with increasing level of aqueous extract concentration compared with control. From the overall data the leaf extracts of the three tree species can be arranged according to increasing allelopathic potential: Ficus infectoria, Acacia leucophloea, Emblica officinalis. Seedling root length appeared to be the strongest morphological trait for allelopathic assessment of Cicer arietinum. Key words: Allelopathy Allelochemicals Morphological trait Inhibitory effect INTRODUCTION Allelopathy plays an important role in agroecosystems