ALLELOPATHIC POTENTIAL OF SELECTED INVASIVE ALIEN PLANT SPECIES (IAPS) OF NEPAL AS BIO-HERBICIDE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3126/jist.v31i1.82821Keywords:
Allelo-chemicals, Bio-pesticides, Invasive plants, Weed germinationAbstract
Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) have raised the ecological and agricultural concern by rapidly spreading from roadside to the agricultural land, forest and rangeland in Nepal. They suppress the native biodiversity and reduce agricultural productivity by producing allelo-chemicals that contribute to their rapid growth and widespread distribution by inhibiting their growth. Despite their negative impact, the practical implication of allelo-chemicals from invasive alien plant species of Nepal as natural herbicide remains underexplored. Weed infestation in croplands incurs significant economic costs, often requiring the use of chemical or bio-based herbicides for management. However, synthetic herbicides are known to cause various environmental and health concerns. Utilization of allelo-chemicals as bio-herbicide from IAPS could be the sustainable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective approach for effective weed management. The objective of the study was to evaluate the allelo-pathic effects of IAPS of Nepal for their potential use as bio-herbicides against agricultural weeds. PRISMA flow chart and guidelines were used and search engine included Google scholar, PubMed, AGORA, EBSCO and ProQuest. Studies published between 2014 and 2024 that investigated the use of any one of the five IAPs- Lantana camara, Chromolena odorata, Pontederia crassipes, Mikania micrantha, or Sphagneticola trilobata which are among world’s hundred worst IAPS, for weed management, were selected for review. Data regarding growth parameter were extracted from 14 reports comprising 35 studies. The data were analyzed using RevMan software, employing SMD and odds ratio for germination and mean difference and % inhibition for root and shoot length. Weed germination, shoot length, and root length showed significant differences across all comparisons with moderate to strong inhibition observed following treatment with extracts from IAPS. IAPS could have the potential to serve as eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic herbicides for effective weed management but field-based validation is required.
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