Weed infestation dynamics influenced by some allelopathic species in climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) crop

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of eight allelopathic plant species on weed infestation in “Auria Bacăului” climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) crop. The biological material included plant species with allelopathic potential: yellow mustard (Sinapis alba), sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), oil radish (Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis), barley (Hordeum vulgare), two-row barley (Hordeum distichon), oats (Avena sativa), red clover (Trifolium pratense) and white clover (Trifolium repens). The experimental design involved a single factor represented by mixtures of these allelopathic species, which were sown simultaneously with climbing bean in an intercropping system. The weed species identified in the field included red-root amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus), guasca (Galinsoga parviflora), flower-of-an-hour (Hibiscus trionum), pale knotweed (Persicaria lapatifolia), groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), purslane (Portulaca oleracea), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), hairy crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), and cockspur (Echinochloa crus-galli). The results showed that weed infestation was significantly reduced by intercropping of climbing bean with allelopathic species, highlighting the potential of this practice in sustainable weed management.