Department of Agronomy, HP Agricultural University, Palampur-176 062, Himachal Pradesh, India.
National Seminar of Plant Physiology ‘Physiological Basis for Improving Productivity of Agricultural, Horticultural and Medicinal Plants’. December 27–29, 2004. University of Pune, Pune, India. Abstract No. 235, (2004).
A field experiment was conducted during Summer 2002 and 2003, to study the allelopathic effects of compost of Lantana on transplanted rice and associated weeds. Experiment was laid out in randomized block design with six treatments [Lantana compost (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 ton fresh biomass/ha) and untreated control] and three replications. The major weeds in experimental field were Echinochloa crusgalli, Cyperus iria, Panicum dichotomijlorum, Fimbristylis sps and Ammania baccifera. The results revealed that the lantana compost at 4 t/ha gave significantly higher seed yield of rice over the control (without Lantana compost) due to more tillers/hill, higher growth rate (15.04 g/day/m2) and comparatively lower total weed dry weight, minimum growth of weeds. There was significant decrease in the grain yield with further increase in compost 4–10 t/ha. Similarly there was gradual decline in the number of tillers/hill and increase in total weed weight but the differences were non-significant. This decrease in production could be attributed to the allelopathic effects of higher levels of Lantana compost on rice growth and increased competition by weeds.
