Influence of Lantana camara L. on Seed Germination and Early Growth Retardation in Crops

Invasive alien plant Lantana camara L. is noxious to its native ecosystem and crop due to the presence of novel allelopathic compounds, which diminish germination, growth and reproduction and inhibit the growth of nearby plants. An experiment was conducted with time intervals of 4, 8, and 12 days at room temperature to understand the inhibitory or stimulatory growth effects of aqueous leaf extract of Lantana camara L. on three economically essential crops, viz., Cicer arietinum L. (Chickpea), Oryza sativa L. (Rice), and Vigna radiata (L.). R. Wilczek (Mung bean) in India. Our findings exhibited that aqueous leaf extracts of L. camara caused suppressive effects on the germination of seeds. Meanwhile, these crops' plumule and radical elongation decrease with the proportional increases in donor plant extract concentration. However, bioassay demonstrated that over time, at greater concentrations, there was a progressive inhibitory effect on seedling elongation, i.e., in both radical and plumule and a reduction in biomass proportionate to the inhibition of germinated seedling elongation. While the lower dose occasionally shows stimulatory effects, the greater concentration had the most significant inhibitory impact. This study finds the growth-inhibiting effects of essential crops and provides a baseline for identifying and isolating target allelochemicals from this plant.