Sorghum Allelopathy: Alternative Weed Management Strategy and Its Impact on Mung Bean Productivity and Soil Rhizosphere Properties

Raza Ullah; Zubair Aslam; Houneida Attia; Khawar Sultan; Khalid H Alamer; Muhammad Zeeshan Mansha; Ashwaq T Althobaiti; Najla Amin T Al Kashgry; Badreyah Algethami; Qamar Uz Zaman

doi:10.3390/life12091359

Sorghum Allelopathy: Alternative Weed Management Strategy and Its Impact on Mung Bean Productivity and Soil Rhizosphere Properties

Life (Basel). 2022 Aug 31;12(9):1359. doi: 10.3390/life12091359.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Okara, Punjab 56300, Pakistan.
² Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Punjab 38040, Pakistan.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Lahore-Lahore, Punjab 54590, Pakistan.
⁵ Biological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science and Arts, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80200, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah, Punjab 31200, Pakistan.

Abstract

The reduction of herbicide use and herbicide-resistant weeds through allelopathy can be a sustainable strategy to combat the concerns of environmental degradation. Allelopathic crop residues carry great potential both as weed suppressers and soil quality enhancers. The influence of sorghum crop residues and water extracts on the weed population, soil enzyme activities, the microbial community, and mung bean crop productivity was investigated in a two-year experiment at the Student Research Farm, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The experimental treatments comprised two levels of sorghum water extract (10 and 20 L ha^-1) and two residue application rates (4 and 6 t ha^-1), and no sorghum water extract and residues were used as the control. The results indicated that the incorporation of sorghum water extract and residue resulted in significant changes in weed dynamics and the soil quality indices. Significant reduction in weed density (62%) and in the dry weight of weeds (65%) was observed in T₅. After the harvest, better soil quality indices in terms of the microbial population (72-90%) and microbial activity (32-50%) were observed in the rhizosphere (0-15 cm) by the same treatment. After cropping, improved soil properties in terms of available potassium, available phosphorus soil organic matter, and total nitrogen were higher after the treatment of residue was incorporated, i.e., 52-65%, 29-45%, 62-84%, and 59-91%, respectively. In the case of soil enzymes, alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase levels in the soil were 35-41% and 52-77% higher, respectively. However, residue incorporation at 6 t ha^-1 had the greatest effect in improving the soil quality indices, mung bean productivity, and reduction of weed density. In conclusion, the incorporation of 6 t ha^-1 sorghum residues may be opted to improve soil quality indices, suppress weeds, harvest a better seed yield (37%), and achieve higher profitability (306 $ ha^-1) by weed suppression, yield, and rhizospheric properties of spring-planted mung beans. This strategy can provide a probable substitute for instigating sustainable weed control and significant improvement of soil properties in the mung bean crop, which can be a part of eco-friendly and sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: allelopathy; crop residues; profitability; soil biology; soil fertility.

Grants and funding

The financial support from the Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC) under project no. 20-2114/NRPU/R&D/12/4188 is highly acknowledged.