Evaluation of propolis extract in preventing weed seed germination

摘要

As you know, weeds can annihilate a large part of agricultural crops. Therefore, many expenses for controlling and destroying weeds are spent on the purchase of herbicide. They cause environmental pollution and have side-effects to human. Propolis is one of the most valuable bee products that have many applications including medicine, agriculture and animal husbandry. In this study, a new application has been introduced that can be so effective in agriculture field. For this reason, propolis extract was used in 4 concentrations. The combinations of propolis extracts were tested on germination of wild barley, oat and cattle cotton. For primary treatment, the seeds were grown in Peat Moss and each day 2 ml of the specified concentrations of the extract were injected. Three replicates for each treatment and three replicates without treatment were considered as controls. All treatments and control were irrigated daily. After determining the best concentration in preventing germination of seeds, the duration of starting germination after application of this extract in the ground was investigated. For this purpose, germination of wheat was studied after using of the 1:2 extract in culture tray at times 1, 8, 16 and 24 hours after treatment. The results of primary treatment showed a significant effect of propolis extract compared to the control. Also, the results of the secondary treatment showed this extract does not prevent germination of main plant's seed after soil treatment. In conclusion, this extract can be recommended as an herbicide before cultivation on farms.