Potential uses of sorghum and sunflower residues for weed control and to improve lentil yields

In field studies, we determined the response of lentil and its weeds to foliar application of sorghum or sunflower water extracts. The sorghum and sunflower extracts significantly reduced the weeds dry weight by 65.62% and 63.56% and thus increased the lentil dry weight by 67.66% and 64.41% respectively, over the unweeded control. The lentil seed yield was increased by 61.34% and 56.18%, respectively. In pot experiment, we determined the responses of lentil varieties to allelopathic effects of sorghum and sunflower residues. The lentil varieties differed in responses to the incorporated sorghum and sunflower shoot residues. The sunflower residues at (12 and 24 g/pot) decreased the seedling growth of lentil varieties more than sorghum residues. The Giza-9 variety proved tolerant to the incorporated sunflower residues. The results suggest that residues of sorghum and sunflower may provide safe and inexpensive weed control, besides increasing the lentil yield in newly reclaimed sandy soil.