ALLELOPATHIC EFFECT OF MUCUNA BRACTEATA EXTRACT AND DIFFERENT DURATION OF DRYING ON GERMINATION AND SEEDLING OF SWEET CORN AND OKRA

This experiment was conducted at the Institute of Sustainable Agrotechnology farm and laboratory, University Malaysia Perlis, Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia, with an aim to evaluate the impact of Mucuna bracteata extract on seedling growth and germination of sweet corn and okra. Aqueous extract (dry, fresh) derived from root and shoot were used and water was kept as a control. Mucuna bracteata plants exposed to different drying duration were considered, namely fresh and after 1 week and 2 weeks, followed by drying at 40 degrees C. Random distribution was followed for the experiment based on completely randomized design (CRD) with four replicates. The germination and seedling growth was significantly retarded for sweet corn and okra, treated with fresh, 1 and 2 weeks extracts when compared to control. Similarly, the number of roots as well as okra shoot length seedlings were significantly reduced by shoot extract and sweet corn seedlings' shoot length. However, shoot length of okra increased to a great extent with fresh extract from roots.