Allelopathy and its Role in Agriculture: Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon where certain plants release chemicals into the environment, affecting the growth and development of neighboring plants, either inhibiting or promoting their growth. Allelochemicals possess the capacity to either facilitate or hinder the germination and growth of plants, enabling the cultivation of crops with minimal phytotoxic residues in both water and soil.
In this article, you are going to read about Allelopathy and its Role in Agriculture, its pros, cons, etc.
Allelopathic Effects on the Neighbouring Plant
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What is Allelopathy?
It is a sub-domain of chemical ecology that deals with the impact of hazardous chemicals (called allelochemicals or allelochemicals) released by some plants to destroy the plants in their vicinity. These chemicals alter the genetic structure of the neighboring plants to cease their growth which is ultimately fatal for them. This phenomenon is common in plants as well as organisms. It can be observed in plant-plant interaction, plant-microbe interaction, and plant-animal interaction as well.
Allelopathy Meaning
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon where certain plants release chemicals into the environment, affecting the growth and development of neighboring plants, either inhibiting or promoting their growth.
Allelopathic plants can hide their allelochemicals in their flowers, stems, leaves, or roots. However, leaves are the most favorable places to store the allelochemicals by allelopathic plants. When the leaves fall, these allelochemicals are released to nearby places which are toxic to the other plants. In many cases, the trees exploit allelopathy to defend their territory by using their roots to draw more water from the earth, to inhibit the growth of other plants.
Allelopathy was explained in detail by Austrian scientist Hans Molisch back in 1937 in his book whose English translation reads “Effect of plants on each other”.
Why some Plants are Allelopathic?
Allelopathic plants release harmful chemicals to kill their competitor plants. It is a survival game. In doing so, allelopathic plants win the race to get more space and sunlight as well. Allelopathy is very common around us even more than we think. For example, the sunflower is also an allelopathic plant. After harvesting its crop, farmers need to wait for more than two weeks before going for the second crop in the same field in order to save the second crop from the allelopathic effect of the earlier crop.
Allelopathy in News
In 2014, it was pointed out by Himachal Pradesh (HP) Forest Department that a deadly weed “Lantana” which is also called “Phool Lakri” in the regional language has drastically affected the forest biodiversity in more than 1800 square kilometers. Lantana was brought to India in 1809 in the Indian Botanic Garden, Kolkata. It has beautiful flowers which enable it to be an ornamental plant. It flowers throughout the year. It spreads easily and exhibits extensive seed production. It poses serious problems to plantation forestry owing to its dominance over other species. It also acts as a potential fire hazard as it is combustible even in its green form. HP witnesses forest fires each summer season which causes great losses to the state and environment.
Pros and Cons of Allelopathy
In the garden, allelopathy can have a negative impact that halts plant development and seed germination. However, at the same time, allelopathic plants can be thought of as natural weed killers specially designed by nature.
Pros of Allelopathy
- Allelopathic plants can be used to obtain natural herbicides/pesticides
- Being a weed itself, it does not allow the growth of other weeds
- Proper use of allelopathy can result in the reduced use of pesticides/herbicides
- It can be used for intercropping and crop rotation
Cons of Allelopathy
- It is itself a weed and hence is unwanted
- The growth of allelopathic plants is difficult to control
- Allelopathic plants prevent the growth of healthy organisms around them
- In the race of survival, it competes for resources
- If not handled properly, they may turn out into invasive species
Role of Allelopathy in Irrigated Agriculture
- Allelopathy is a well-known natural process in ecological systems. Since ancient times, it has been utilized in agriculture.
- Allelochemicals have the potential to aid or prevent plant germination and development, allowing the growth of crops with low phytotoxic residue amounts in water and soil. This way allelopathy enables wastewater treatment and recycling.
- Allelopathic chemicals can be seen as suitable alternatives for non-natural herbicides owing to their non-residual effects. However, despite their promising potential as natural herbicides, they suffer certain issues such as low efficacy and specificity of many allelochemicals.
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Research on the Allelopathy in Agriculture
Majorly, the current research on allelopathy in agriculture revolves around the following points:
- Application of the known allelopathic effects on agricultural production
- Its impact on decreasing the chemical pesticides’ intake
- Contribution of allelopathy to reducing the environmental pollution
- Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of allelopathy on the sustainable development of agricultural production and ecological systems.
- The effective use of the plant allelopathy to increase crop productivity and ecological sustainability through eco-friendly weed suppression, insect pests, and plant diseases, conservation of nitrogen in croplands, and the production of novel agrochemicals based on allelochemicals has drawn significant interest from scientists working on allelopathic research.
FAQs on Allelopathy and its Role in Agriculture
1. What is the role of allelopathy in agriculture?
Allelopathy in agriculture involves the release of biochemicals by plants to inhibit the growth of competing plants, acting as a natural form of weed control.
2. What do Allelochemicals play an important role in plant communities by?
Allelochemicals play a crucial role in plant communities by influencing seed germination, plant growth, and overall ecosystem dynamics.
3. What is the cause of allelopathy?
The cause of allelopathy lies in the release of allelochemicals, natural compounds produced by plants, influencing the behavior of neighboring plants.
4. What is the allelopathic activity of plants?
The allelopathic activity of plants involves the suppression or stimulation of growth in nearby plants through the release of allelochemicals.