Allelopathic Interactions of Sunflower Mulch on Growth and Yield of Faba Bean and Mate Weeds

Mulching is an important agronomic practice in conserving the soil moisture and modifying the soil physical environment. Field experiment conducted during season of 2016/2017 to test the allelopathic influence of sunflower mulch, residue and herbicide on yield of faba bean and mate weeds. The field divided to two blocks. In spring 2016, the plots (4 X 4) m in the first area cultured (C) with seeds of sunflower cv. Sin Altheeb, while the other one lifted without culture (non-culture) (NC). At the second growth season, some plots enclosed by dry plant material of sunflower, while the sunflower residues combined in some other plot soil. Other plots with label rate of herbicide (trifluralin) and plots without any treatments were involved in the experiment for comparison. These treatments replicated in both field area. Seeds of faba bean Vicia faba sown in rows at the beginning of October 2016 (in both filed area), keeping space 40 cm between rows and 20 cm between plants. The experiment conducted in randomized complete block design (RCBD) under split plot arrangement with four replications. The highest means of soil moisture 17.14% preserved under mulch treatment, while the lowest 2.87% preserved under herbicide. Treatment with Herbicide (CN) had significantly inhibited weed density by 72.22 % comparison to control. Herbicide (NC) had significantly improved the number of pods, seeds per pod and weight 100 seed by 52.17, 13.61 and 39.29 % over control, respectively. In addition, there wasn't any, significant differences between herbicide (NC) and Mulching (NC) in number of seeds/pod and weight 100 seeds. More works are need on using mulching for other crops under different environmental conditions. However, such work would help farmers to use this easily existing resource to manage weed and improve crop productivity and soil fertility in a sustainable manner.