Allelopathic interaction of pepper (Capsicum annuum) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) intercropped

Authors

  • Leila Radouane National Tunisian Institute for Agriculture Research (INRAT) Hédi Karray Avenue- Ariana 2049
  • Thouraya Rhim National Tunisian Institute for Agriculture Research (INRAT) Hédi Karray Avenue- Ariana 2049

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9940

Keywords:

Allelopathy, Pearl millet, Pepper, Aqueous extract, Germination

Abstract

Intercropping is common practice in many regions of Tunisia, particularly in Cap-Bon where different crops such as tomato, pepper, cucumber, peanut, corn, pearl millet and sorghum are grown together in the same field and at the same time for self-sufficiency. A number of these crops and vegetables are known for their allelopathic activities. The interaction between plants could be within the individuals of the same species (intraspecific interaction or autotoxicity) or between different species (interspecific interaction or teletotoxicity). Little is known about allelopathic interaction of some of these intercropped plants in mixed farming systems in our local conditions. Therefore, the objectives of the present investigation are to evaluate, under laboratory condition, the allelopathic effect of mixed crops, which interacted positively or negatively when cultivated together in the same field. Two plant species were used to study the effects of their aqueous extract on germination and growth of each other (pepper and pearl millet). The results suggested that aqueous extracts from shoots and roots significantly inhibited germination and seedling growth and the inhibitory effects were increased proportionally with the extract concentration. The shoot and root aqueous extract also exhibited intraspecific and interspecific allelopathy. Generally, it was observed that roots were more toxic than shoots. For root extract, the highest inhibition percentage was gained from the effect of pearl millet on pepper (40%) and highest autotoxicity was observed from pearl millet (36%). The effect of shoot extract on germination indicated that the highest reduction (55%) was obtained from pepper shoot extract on pearl millet and highest autotoxicity was observed from pepper which reached (45%). In most cases autotoxicity appeared to be more severe than teletotoxicity, on seed germination of the two intercropped plant species.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9940

International Journal of Environment Vol.3(1) 2014: 32-40

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
1543
PDF
1236

Downloads

Published

2014-02-28

How to Cite

Radouane, L., & Rhim, T. (2014). Allelopathic interaction of pepper (Capsicum annuum) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) intercropped. International Journal of Environment, 3(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9940

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Research Papers

License

The author(s) acknowledge that the manuscript submitted is his/her/their own original work; all authors participated in the work in a substantive way and are prepared to take public responsibility for the work; all authors have seen and approved the manuscript as submitted;  the manuscript has not been published and is not being submitted or considered for publication elsewhere; the text, illustrations, and any other materials included in the manuscript do not infringe(plagiarism) upon any existing copyright or other rights of anyone.

Notwithstanding the above, the Contributor(s) or, if applicable the Contributor’s Employer, retain(s) all proprietary rights other than copyright, such as Patent rights; to use, free of charge, all parts of this article for the author’s future works in books, lectures, classroom teaching or oral presentations; the right to reproduce the article for their own purposes provided the copies are not offered for sale.

The copyright to the contribution identified is transferred to IJE.