Allelopathy
Allelopathy, a naturally occurring ecological phenomenon of interference among organisms, is emerging as a pragmatic approach for resolving multiple issues, including pest management, stress mitigation, and growth enhancement in crop production in modern
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Abstract
Allelopathy, a naturally occurring ecological phenomenon of interference among organisms, is emerging as a pragmatic approach for resolving multiple issues, including pest management, stress mitigation, and growth enhancement in crop production in modern agriculture. It is employed for managing weeds, insect pests, diseases, and nematodes in crop plants through multiple approaches, including crop rotations, cover crops, intercropping, mulching, incorporation of crop residues, and application of water extracts. Application of mixtures of allelopathic plant extracts is more effective than application of single-plant extract. The dose of herbicide can be reduced by one-half by combining it with the application of allelopathic plant extracts which give as much weed control as the standard herbicide dose in several crops. The development of herbicide resistance in weed ecotypes may be reduced by using lower doses of herbicides. Hence, this phenomenon is quite effective and an environment-friendly a lternative to pesticides in managing agricultural pests and improving the productivity of agricultural systems. In this chapter, potential application of the allelopathic phenomenon for natural pest management in crop plants is discussed. Keywords
Allelochemicals • Environment • Weeds • Insect pests • Diseases • Nematodes • Crop rotation • Mulching • Cover crops • Crop protection • Secondary metabolite
18.1 Introduction The most widely adopted method for managing pests (weeds, insect pests, diseases, and nematodes) for successful crop production is the use of chemical pesticides. Indiscriminate use of pesticides has led to contamination of surface and ground water (Snelder et al. 2008), residues of pesticides from plants entering the soil or © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 P.P. Reddy, Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4325-3_18
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food chain, that prove hazardous to both humans and animals (McKinlay et al. 2008). The food security, a challenge for scientists and farming community, is due to ever-increasing human population that is expected to reach nine million by 2050. Pests which are responsible for 26–40% crop losses are one of the major constraints in crop production (Oerke 2006). The phenomenon of allelopathy may be wisely exploited in cropping systems to substitute for heavy use of pesticides for an effective, economical, natural, and alternative method of sustainable pest management.
18.2 Allelopathy Allelopathy is a natural ecological phenomenon whereby secondary metabolites synthesized by plants, fungi, viruses, and microorganisms affect the functioning of other organisms in their vicinity, negatively (inhibitory) or positively (stimulatory) (Farooq et al. 2011). According to Rice (1984), allelopathy is the influence of one plant on the growth of another one, including microorganisms, by the release of chemical compounds into the environment. These chemicals released (allelochemicals) are mostl
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