Performance Of Soybean Against Allelopathic Leaf Aqueous Extracts And Soil Incorporated Residues

Allelopathy is the study of plant exudates with their supplementary or antagonistic effect towards other plant species. Wise use of Allelopathy and its further investigations may result new and effective chemicals which may have positive effect on crop stands in one way or other. The present investigation is aimed to probe the allelopathic effect of Rice and Mustard on Soybean. The study was carried out in 2018 at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur in laboratory as well as in wire-house. In the laboratory phase of this experiment, overall sprouting and growth pattern of Soybean was observed against different concentrations of mentioned plant species. Yield and quality attributes were tested in wirehouse conditions via soil incorporated residues of Rice and Mustard (which were left for decomposition for different time interval). Results from the laboratory bioassay revealed that higher concentrations of rice i.e. 3, 4 and 5% while all tested concentrations of mustard i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% significantly reduced the germination and seedling growth of soybean when equated to control. Whereas lower concentration of rice i.e. 1 and 2% produced similar results to the control. Results from the wire-house phase of the study unveiled that 1% and 2% of rice augmented the plant height, numbers of pods per plant, numbers of grains per pod, 1000 grain weight, chlorophyll content, leaf area index, crop growth rate, biological yield and grain yield hill-1 of Soybean. Other concentrations i.e. 3, 4 and 5% of rice and all the tested concentrations of mustard i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% reduced the mentioned parameters significantly. Based upon the results it is concluded that lower aqueous extract concentrations of rice (1 and 2%) increase the growth and yield of soybean and may further be used in investigations related to this crop.