ALLELOPATHIC EFFECT OF EUCALYPTUS (Eucalyptus camaldulensis DEHNH) ON THE GROWTH OF Aloe vera

Allelopathy is the phenomenon in which one plant species affect another plant positively or negatively through the secretion of specific biochemicals into the environment. These are released from parts of plant and known as allelochemicals. The current experiment was conducted at Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana-Ambala (Haryana), India during February to May, 2020. The present study revealed that the Eucalyptus camaldulensis infested soil significantly reduced the growth of Aloe vera plantations, length, width and number of leaves. The observations showed that Eucalyptus infected soil significantly decreased the plant height, number of leaves and root length of crop. The maximum length of leaves 38 cm and width of leaves 4 cm was observed in without Eucalyptus infested soil (control); whereas with the Eucalyptus infested soil the maximum length of leaves 20 cm and maximum width 2.5 cm. The number of leaves also reduced per plants in Eucalyptus infested soil. Thus the allelochemicals released from the Eucalyptus reduced the growth and productivity of under shade Aloe vera plants than those cultivated in soil without Eucalyptus infestation. It is a pioneer report of Eucalyptus allelopathic potential on the growth of Aloe vera which is a key medicinal plant used to cure skin burns, cutaneous injuries, irradiation leucopenia, ulcers and inflammations caused by some bacteria and fungi.