PHYTOTOXICITY OF AQUEOUS AND HEXANE LEAF EXTRACTS OF Parthenium hysterophorus L. AND Lantana camara L. ON Sorghum bicolor L. MOENCH, VARIETY FENDISHE

Abstract

Lantana camara and Parthenium hysterophorus are invasive weed species that have allelopathic effects on crops. This research was designed to determine the inhibitory effect of aqueous and hexane leaf extracts of Lantana camara L. and Parthenium hysterophorus L. on germination and seedling growth of Sorghum bicolor, variety Fendishe. The distilled water and hexane extracts of Lantana camara L. and Parthenium hysterophorus L. were prepared in 5 and 10% concentration levels while distilled water was used as negative control to evaluate seed germination and growth parameters under laboratory condition. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with five replications. The obtained data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance. Results showed that both solvents extracts negatively affected seed germination and seedling growth (P<0.05). Comparison between the two solvent extracts’ impact showed that distilled water extracts of Lantana camara and Parthenium hysterophorus were superior to hexane extracts in negatively affecting the performance of the test plant. Of the two weeds’ extracts, Lantana camara extracts showed the highest inhibitory effects on seed germination and seedling growth. The toxicity was generally increased with increasing extract concentrations