ALLELOPATHY: IT’S INTERFACE IN TREE-CROP ASSOCIATION

Combination between tree and crops interacts dynamically and provides multi-faceted aspects of improvement such as increased productivity, enrichment of soil with organic matter and nitrogen, transport of nutrients from lower to the upper layer of soil, conservation of environment, improved microclimate and allelopathy is one amongst them when it comes to combine the both components for sustainable land use and to increase food production. Because these components co-exist simultaneously, their allelopathic compatibility may be decisive to determine the selection of successful tree-crop combination. Mostly trees have negative allelopathic effects on crops, therefore, it is essential to explore that what type of tree-crop interaction will have no or positive allelopathic effects on the companion crops may be combined for beneficial results. As trees remain a part of the agroforestry system for a longer period, and most of them produce a large amount of leaves and litter, their allelochemicals may play an important role in an overall improvement. If the due emphasis is given, allelopathy could play a major role in enhancing the production and productivity in agroforestry systems by having the better understanding about tree-crop combination