SOIL WEED SEED BANK STATUS IN THE AGROECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF CHITRAL, PAKISTAN
SOIL WEED SEED BANK STATUS IN THE AGROECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF CHITRAL, PAKISTAN
Luqman1*, Zahid Hussain2, Tamana Bakht3, Miftah-Ud-Din1, Haroon Khan2, Muhammad
Rameez Khan1, Ata Ullah1 and Faraz Ali Shah1, Imtiaz Khan2 and Abdul Majid Khan Dawar2
ABSTRACT
A greenhouse experiment was carried out at Agricultural Research Station (ARI),
Shen Lasht Chitral in 2016-17. A total of 300 samples were collected from the five different
locations namely Drosh, Shen Lasht, Garam Chashma, Ayun and Bony Lasht of district
Chitral. The soil samples were placed in trays (27 cm × 21 cm × 4 cm = 2268 cm3), and the
trays were arranged in three repetitions having 100 samples in each repetition. Each
repetition contained samples from 5 locations, in each location 4 sites (east, west, north
and south each at 100 m distance from each other) and at each site samples were collected
from 5 different depths, making a total of 100 samples in one repetition i.e. 5 × 4 × 5 =
100 and with repetitions making a total of 300 samples in one district. The results identified
31 noxious weeds belong to 17 different plant families in the soil samples of district Chitral..
Out of the 31 different weeds, 23 were broad leaves, 8were grasses and 1was sedge.
Moreover, 24 weeds were annuals, while the rest were perennials. A. Among the different
locations of Chitral, the highest weed seed bank was recorded in the soil samples of ARS
Shen Lasht area.. The lowest seed bank was recorded in the soil samples of Garam
Chashma, which was however statistically at par with the rest of the locations studied in
Chitral. The major weed seed bank lies in the upper 6-12 cm depth of the soil. Out of the
total 31 weeds recorded in soil samples of Chitral, the top 10 weeds in terms of the relative
weed densities, relative weed frequencies and importance value indices were Convolvulus
arvensis, Rumex crispus, Poa annua, Galium aparine, Avena fatua, Trianthema
portulacastrum, Silybum marianum, Sorghum halepense, Euphorbia helioscopia, and Lolium
tenulentum species. The Importance Value Indices for these weeds were 14.01, 13.96,
13.07, 11.83, 11.57, 11.12, 10.35, 10.09, 10.02, and 9.99, respectively. Moreover, these
IVIs indicate that out of the top most 10 problematic weeds eight weeds are broad leaved
and two are grassy weeds. Therefore, for planning of the weed control measures it must be
kept that broad leaf weed problems are higher
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September 2021
Vol. 27, Iss. 3, Pages 253-441
