Evaluation of Allelopathic Property of Lantana camara Vegetative Parts on Seed Germination Attributes of Maize [Zea mays L.]

Some weeds that have been reported to have allelopathic potentials are always found in association with field crops. This association might be inhibitory or stimulatory, some of these weeds however have the potentials of becoming invasive under certain cropping system and environmental situations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the most effective aqueous extract from three vegetative part of Lantana camara on seed germination of maize. An in vivo, experiment was conducted to study the effect of water extract of leaf, stem and root of Lantana camara on the germination of maize, in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Three concentrations (10%, 20% and 40%) of each ground plant parts were studied with distilled water used as control. The aqueous extracts of the plant parts and control were used to germinate seeds of Maize (DTE-YSTR) in petri-dish with 5ml of extracts administered to each petri dish. Data were collected on number of germinated seeds daily, from 3 Days after Sowing (DAS) to 8DAS. Also length of plumules and radicles were measured and recorded at 8 DAS on five randomly selected germinated seeds. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and the means separated using the Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Results showed that germination percentage, mean radicle length and mean plumule length decreased with increasing concentrations. Reduction in germination, length of radicles and plumules was more pronounced in the leaf extract.