Allelopathic potential of sunflower against the great brome

Control methods commonly used to suppress the great brome (Bromus diandrus Roth., syn. Bromus rigidus Roth. subsp. gussonii Parl.) in Tunisian cereal crop are essentially chemical, raising both efficacy and safety issues. The introduction of allelopathic species into the crop rotation or utilizing allelopathic plants as living/green mulches has been suggested as a cost-effective way to reduce the weed presence. Among these species, the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has shown an allelopathic potential against some troublesome weed species. In this study, we analyzed the biological activities of water extract of different tissues (root, shoot, leaf and flower) of sunflower on the seedling establishment of the great brome. In a second experiment, the allelopathic influence of sunflower residues (leaf or flower) against this weed was also studied under glasshouse conditions at more advanced stages of growth using different concentrations (0, 6, 12 and 18g tissue dry weight / kg of soil). The first experiment showed an effect depending on the parts of the sunflower. Indeed, the roots seem to be the less allelopathic part (22% of root inhibition growth) as compared to the leaves and flowers (82% and 100%, respectively). This potential seems to simultaneously affect the radicle and the coleoptile growth of the great brome. In the second experiment, weed growth was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, using increasing amounts of sunflower residues. The allelopathic potential of the leaves or flowers reduced both the root or shoot length and biomass accumulation of the weed. These results suggest that the sunflower can be a good previous crop for cereal cultivation by controlling the presence of some weeds, including the great brome. In this perspective, the inhibitory effects of sunflower residues on cultivated cereals in the field need to be assessed.