Effects of leaf residues from Ageratina adenophora on germination, growth and productivity of two rabi crops

Ageratina adenophora is among the most appalling invasive alien weeds spreading over the majority of habitats in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Agricultural lands are one of the major invaded areas by this weed and its luxuriant growth has been reported along the croplands. To lessen the harmful impacts posed by this weed, farmers and land managers usually slash the aerial parts of this weed. But the piled residues are not treated and are left which could have the impacts on the crops growing in its vicinity. In this study, impacts of fresh, dry and composted leaf tissues of A. adenophora in pot experiment against two food crops viz. Triticum aestivum (wheat, commonly known as gehu) and Lens culinaris (lentil, commonly known as masoor) were investigated. Five concentration treatments i.e. C0 (control-0 g leaves/kg soil)), C1 (10g leaves/kg soil), C2 (20g leaves/kg soil), C3 (40g leaves/kg soil) and C4 (80g leaves/kg soil) were prepared and the effects on germination, growth (shoot and root), dry matter accumulation and yield of test plant species were recorded. Fresh and dry leaf treatments inhibited the performance of lentil as well as wheat while the composted leaves promoted seed germination, plant height, biomass and crop yield in concentration dependent manner. As compared to fresh and composted leaves, test crops were severely affected by dry leaf treatments and failed to produce pods and seeds towards higher concentrations. The results revealed that fresh and dry leaves of A. adenophora have inhibitory effect on germination and growth of test plants while composting of A. adenophora leaves reduced the inhibitory effect of weed residues incorporated into the soil.