Effects of Aqueous and Ethanoic leaf extract of Moringa oleifera and Senna alata on germination and seedling growth of soybean and maize:- Franklin, Onuchukwu A.

ABSTRACT

 The effect of ethanoic and aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera and Senna alata on the germination and seedling growth of maize and soybean were investigated in laboratory and field (pot) experiment. Five treatment levels of different concentration of extracts (undiluted, 1: I, 1 :25, 1 :50), and control were used. The control treatment was only distilled water. The result showed that germination percentage of maize and soybean when treated with ethanoic extract from M. oleifera and S. alata were significantly (P<0.05) reduced. The concentration of the extract affected the germination percentage of the seed of the plant. As the concentration of extracts increased, the germination percentage reduced. The extracts significantly (P<0.05) stimulated growth of maize and soybean. It caused significant increase in the height and dry weight. This study reveals that the allellopathic chemicals present in the leaves of M. oleifera and S. a/ata inhibited germination of soybean and maize. This result therefore suggests that extracts of M oleifera and S. alata contain both allelopathic and stimulatory substances responsible for inhibition of germination of soybean and maize and stimulation of growth of soybean and maize. The study suggests that ethanoic extracts of M. oleifera and S. alata can be used as a growth suppressant to prevent germination of weed seeds and also as bio-stimulator to stimulate growth of crops plant.