Author(s):

Uday Bhanu Pratap, Bhupendra Singh, VP Khanduri and KS Pant

Abstract: A pot experiment was carried out to examine the effect of aqueous leaf extract of three Quercus (Q. leucotrichophora, Q. floribunda, and Q. serrata) species on germination and early growth of small millets (Echinochloa frumentacea, Eleusine coracana, Amaranthus caudatus) and one cereal crop (Triticum aestivum) which are important crops of the mid-Himalayan region. The study revealed that there was a considerable effect of Quercus species on seed germination, early growth, and biomass of all the test crops. The increase in extract concentration exhibited a higher inhibitory effect though the lesser concentration slightly stimulated the growth of E. coracana and A. caudatus. The percentage of inhibition in germination and early growth parameters increased with the increasing concentration of aqueous extract. Among the test crops, T. aestivum and E. frumentacea were found most susceptible while E. coracana and A. caudatus were the most resistant test crops. The toxicity of the Quercus species was in order of Q. leucotrichophora < Q. floribunda < Q. serrata. In particular, Q. leucotrichophora is preferred as fodder and fuelwood thereby, phytotoxic accumulation through leaves would be low to moderate in soil. Based on the suppressive nature of these tree species on test crops, Q. leucotrichophora can be screened as prominent agroforestry tree species.

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