EFFECT OF COMPETITION FROM BUFFEL GRASS (Cenchrus ciliaris) ON BIOCONTROL ABILITY OF Puccinia abrupta var. partheniicola TO PARTHENIUM … (original) (raw)
A research aimed at investigating the effect of the density and time of establishment of buffel grass when grown in competition with parthenium weed infected with the biocontrol agent P. abrupta var. partheniicola had been conducted in a glasshouse. A 2 x 3 factorial experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with six replicate plants in each treatment. The experiments consisted of one parthenium weed plant grown together with either 1, 2 or 3 buffel grass plants that are the same age as the parthenium weed plant (non-established treatments) or grown together with either 1, 2 or 3 buffel grass plants that are 20 days older than the parthenium plant (established treatments). The results showed that the disease progress of P. abrupta var. partheniicola increased as the competitor density decreased. The early establishment of the competitors did not affect the rate of disease progression. Above grown biomass of inoculated plants decreased as the density of the buffel grass plants increased. The greatest impact of competition working together with the rust in suppressing parthenium weed was observed on the reduction in seed production (98%). The biggest component of this reduction was due to competition rather than infection by the rust.
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