Iqtidar Hussain1,*, Muhammad Ihtesham Haider1, Sheheryar1, Muhammad Mohibullah2, Rashid Khan1
1Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 29050, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
2Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 29050, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
*Corresponding author: Iqtidar Hussain
Abstract
The cultivation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) within the specific agro-climatic zone of Dera Ismail Khan is frequently disrupted and delayed due to prevailing sugarcane and cotton cropping sequences. Late sowing and early crop establishment are big problems faced by farmers, and natural allelopathy is being explored as a potential solution to this problem to find a viable alternative to the use of commercial synthetic plant growth regulators. Therefore, an independent investigation was designed at Gomal University in the 2025 growing season to assess the bioactive effects of various aqueous extracts of plants on initial growth stages of wheat. The experiment was designed as a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 9 different treatments, namely, untreated control (T1), Bitter Apple (T2), Lasoda (T3), Parthenium (T4), Garlic (T5), Peelu (T6), Conocarpus (T7), Moringa (T8), and Algal Water (T9). These observation parameters were found critical: chronological daily counts for the initial germination, total germination percentage, germination energy, early seedling vegetative indices at 15 and 30 days after sowing (DAS) such as Coleoptile Length, Root Length, Shoot Length, total Plant Height, seedling Fresh Weight, structural Dry Weight, and Root-to-Shoot Ratio. The statistical treatment of experimental data showed that there was a significant difference among all the treatments. The empirical results showed that Moringa leaf extract and the Algal Water solution are outstanding biostimulants with significant abilities to stimulate initial sprout velocity and increase seedling vigor. In contrast, aqueous extracts from Parthenium, Conocarpus and Garlic had strong phytotoxic and allelopathic effects as they significantly affected the emergence of the seeds and reduced early vegetative growth and thereby the uniformity of the emerging wheat stand. From these clear findings, the present study concludes that 10 per cent aqueous application of Moringa leaf extract is a very good organic primer that can enhance crop stand establishment under late-sown conditions. In addition, invasive Conocarpus and Parthenium species, being present in close proximity to agrarian fields, need to be carefully managed to avoid the potential for volatile allelochemical interactions with growing wheat.
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