Weed control in fields of direct seeded cereals (Algerian highland region) by using Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract

• Main Authors: Mostefa KOUADRIA, Abdelkrim HASSANI, Djelloul GHEZALI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II 2019-03-01
• Series: Revue Marocaine des Sciences Agronomiques et Vétérinaires
• Subjects: aqueous extract; Eucalyptus; weed control; biopesticide; biological control; cereals
• Online Access: https://www.agrimaroc.org/index.php/Actes_IAVH2/article/view/667/716

Cereals and durum wheat in particular are of crucial importance in many countries, including Algeria, both agronomically and socio-economically. Thus, to achieve sustainable food security, it is necessary to improve and increase cereal production. However, in recent years, another constraint has emerged which is that of weeds. In fact, weeds have gradually multiplied to cover more and more important areas, especially in the cereal zones where direct seeding is practiced. As a result, cereals pay a heavy price each year because of their invasion by these competing plants such as brome, wild oats, mustard, cleavers, poppy ... In addition, the chemical herbicides used are very effective (such as the "famous" Glyphosate) to fight against this scourge. Unfortunately, it is an expensive practice and harmful for the human health and the environment. To this end, as an alternative to weed control, our work aims to inhibit the germination of cereal weed seeds by using aqueous extract of eucalyptus leaves at different doses (5, 10 and 20%) compared to a control (2,4D herbicide). The results indicate a reasonable hope of using plant extracts as herbicides in biological control because the plant tested during this work has shown real inhibitory properties of germination. Indeed, Eucalyptus globulus has been shown to be a potent inhibitor, consistent with its allelopathic ability. Thus, biological control using biopesticide is a tool facilitating the implementation of weed control programs offering an acceptable balance between the need to protect crops and the simultaneous respect of the environment and human health.