The Phytotoxic Secondary Metabolites of Fungi as Potential Source of Natural Herbicide

Problems of weeds in agriculture, forestry, environment and health are very prominent. Manual methods of weed control have earlier been considered as one of the most effective way to eradicate weeds but due to severe labour shortage and increase in labour cost significantly hampered this practice. Synthetic chemical herbicides have no doubt played very crucial role in weed management, however, due to indiscriminate and excessive use of these chemicals, environmental issues have become a serious concern. Therefore, there is a need to discover and develop a new, economically and environmentally sustainable weed management technology. Biological control of weeds with plant pathogenic fungi and their secondary metabolites offers a great opportunities for future. The scope of secondary metabolites produced by different fungi in weed management has been discussed in this review.