STUDY OF WEED INFESTATION IN WHEAT FIELDS AT SOUTH PUNJAB REGION PAKISTAN

Weeds are one of the major threats to the natural environment. They are destroying native habitats, threatening native plants and animals, and choking our natural systems including rivers and forests. Aiming to explore the existing situation of weed infestation and assessing its impact, present research work was conducted in south Punjab region, focusing on District Layyah and Muzaffargarh. Weed flora of wheat crop at 3 sites i.e. Nawan Kot, Fethpur, and Karor Lal-e-son in district Layyah; and three sites (Kot Addu, Chowk Sarwar Shaheed, and Sultan Nagar) in district Muzaffargarh was observed using quadrat method. Ten quadrats measuring 1.0 m2 were randomly selected to record the data. From each quadrat soil samples (from top 3 cm) were also taken. Different ecological parameters (i. e. Frequency (%) density (%), (%), relative density (%), relative frequency (%) and important value (%) were worked out using proper formulae. Weed species related to 9 families were classified into different frequency classes. Two most important families of these sites were found Poaceae and Papilionaceae each one represented by four species. Chenopodium album, Cynodon dactylon and Anagallis arvensis were observed the most frequent species at these sites.