understanding the modes of action, molecular mechanisms of allelopathy, and soil
dynamics in crop weed completion are advancing rapidly in relevance to weed
management as a bioherbicide. The adaptive plasticity of plants will enable them
to change their morphological and physiological traits after their exposure to
allelochemicals in the weed crop competition scenario. The existence of genetic
variation correlated to the allelopathic potential for weed suppression could be
further exploited for looming organic plant breeding approaches.
Keywords Allelopathy · Allelochemicals · Bioherbicide · Organic agriculture ·
Plant breeding · QTLs · Weed management
1 Introduction
Weeds overlap spatially with beneficial agricultural crops. They divest the crops with
restricted nutritional elements, land, sunlight, and water. Weeds stubbornly compete
with crops, affecting a significant loss in their yield productivity (Mushtaq et al. 2020).
Crop and yield losses produced by weeds are far high and above the damages from any
category of agronomic pests, such as insects, diseases, nematodes, rodents, etc.
(Abouziena and Haggag 2016). Since the dawn of agriculture, hand weeding,
mechanical weeding, and weedicide applications were the conventional weed control
approaches that have been practiced (Jabran et al. 2015). However, extensive use of
herbicides to control the weeds has led to serious ecological and environmental
complications such as herbicide resistance and residual effect, a shift in weed flora,
and environmental pollution and health hazards due to their noxious residual
responses in the land, water, and food chain. The harmful effect of commercial
herbicides makes it appropriate to reconnoiter various new weed management alternatives (Vyvyan 2002). Eco-friendly preferences in weed management force
researches for identifying novel sources and tools. Natural compounds hold a great
promise for the detection of innovative and environmentally nontoxic natural herbicides. The International Allelopathy Society defined the term in 1996 as “any process
involving secondary metabolites produced by plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi that
influences the growth and development of agriculture and biological systems.” The
allelopathic plants discharging allelochemicals into the environment are biodegradable and, thus, cause less pollution (Duke et al. 2002). They are an applicable alternate
tool for synthetic herbicides since allelochemicals do not have residual or toxic effects.
This is an appropriate application of allelopathy toward the enhancement of crop
productivity and environmental protection by an eco-friendly approach to the control
of weeds. Allelopathy is a natural ecological phenomenon that may be a beneficial or
detrimental interaction between the organisms; it may be planted to plant to insect or
plant to microorganisms that are triggered by the action of chemicals referred to as
allelochemicals (Rice 1984). Allelopathy is a significant ecological tool in natural and
managed ecosystems. These non-nutritional chemicals are mainly produced through
secondary metabolisms; mostly, they are by-products of several physiological processes in the plant system. The allelochemicals have the potential to influence the
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H. Palanivel et al.
dynamics in crop weed completion are advancing rapidly in relevance to weed
management as a bioherbicide. The adaptive plasticity of plants will enable them
to change their morphological and physiological traits after their exposure to
allelochemicals in the weed crop competition scenario. The existence of genetic
variation correlated to the allelopathic potential for weed suppression could be
further exploited for looming organic plant breeding approaches.
Keywords Allelopathy · Allelochemicals · Bioherbicide · Organic agriculture ·
Plant breeding · QTLs · Weed management
1 Introduction
Weeds overlap spatially with beneficial agricultural crops. They divest the crops with
restricted nutritional elements, land, sunlight, and water. Weeds stubbornly compete
with crops, affecting a significant loss in their yield productivity (Mushtaq et al. 2020).
Crop and yield losses produced by weeds are far high and above the damages from any
category of agronomic pests, such as insects, diseases, nematodes, rodents, etc.
(Abouziena and Haggag 2016). Since the dawn of agriculture, hand weeding,
mechanical weeding, and weedicide applications were the conventional weed control
approaches that have been practiced (Jabran et al. 2015). However, extensive use of
herbicides to control the weeds has led to serious ecological and environmental
complications such as herbicide resistance and residual effect, a shift in weed flora,
and environmental pollution and health hazards due to their noxious residual
responses in the land, water, and food chain. The harmful effect of commercial
herbicides makes it appropriate to reconnoiter various new weed management alternatives (Vyvyan 2002). Eco-friendly preferences in weed management force
researches for identifying novel sources and tools. Natural compounds hold a great
promise for the detection of innovative and environmentally nontoxic natural herbicides. The International Allelopathy Society defined the term in 1996 as “any process
involving secondary metabolites produced by plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi that
influences the growth and development of agriculture and biological systems.” The
allelopathic plants discharging allelochemicals into the environment are biodegradable and, thus, cause less pollution (Duke et al. 2002). They are an applicable alternate
tool for synthetic herbicides since allelochemicals do not have residual or toxic effects.
This is an appropriate application of allelopathy toward the enhancement of crop
productivity and environmental protection by an eco-friendly approach to the control
of weeds. Allelopathy is a natural ecological phenomenon that may be a beneficial or
detrimental interaction between the organisms; it may be planted to plant to insect or
plant to microorganisms that are triggered by the action of chemicals referred to as
allelochemicals (Rice 1984). Allelopathy is a significant ecological tool in natural and
managed ecosystems. These non-nutritional chemicals are mainly produced through
secondary metabolisms; mostly, they are by-products of several physiological processes in the plant system. The allelochemicals have the potential to influence the
94
H. Palanivel et al.