Understanding plant strategies: Broader view for allelopathy scientists

Agriculture is the complex process of scientific knowledge, methods and practices to obtain useful materials from crops. Weeds comprise the “other set” of plant species found in agroecosystems. Although they are not intentionally sown, but are well adapted to crop environments and have always been associated with crops. Concerns over environmental and human health impacts of pesticides, herbicide resistance in weeds have led farmers and scientists in many countries to seek strategies that take greater advantage of ecological and biotechnological processes. Seed dispersal and seed germination are critical phases in the life-cicle of the plant, during these phases the forces of natural selection have a maximum opportunity to exert their influence. These clues have been evaluated for three annual weeds: purslane, lambsquarter and redroot pigweed to use allelopathy for weed control.