Germination and early growth performance of Persea americana in soils amended with extracts from different parts of Annona muricata

Abstract

In agro-ecosystems, several weeds, crops, agroforestry trees including fruit trees are known to exert allelopathic influence on crops thus affecting their germination and growth. This study evaluated the effect of Annona muricata extracts on the germination and seedling growth of Persea americana. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD)
separately for leaf, root and leaf/root extracts of A. muricata. Data were collected on germination emergence, germination duration, germination percentage, seedling height, collar diameter, leaf production, biomass and moisture content. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in the measured growth attributes of P. americana among soils treated with different volumes (0ml, 25ml, 50ml, and 100ml) of A. muricata extracts, separately for leaf, root, and root/leaf extracts. Plumule emergence of P. americana was earliest in soils treated with 25ml/50ml/100ml of A. muricata leaf extract; earliest at 50ml in soils treated with root extract and earliest at 50ml/75ml/100ml in soils treated with leaf/root extract. Duration of emergence was shortest with 25ml of leaf extract, 100 ml of root extract and 50ml/100ml of leaf/root extract. Germination percentage improved with soil amendment using A. muricata extract especially the leaf extract and a combination of leaf/root extracts. In majority of the cases, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in seedling height and collar diameter but the leaf extract increased the mean values of both number of leaves and seedling height. Mean
values of seedling biomass and moisture content of P. americana were enhanced with the application of leaf extract especially. Soil amendment with extracts from different parts of A. muricata enhanced plumule emergence and seedling growth of P. americana while the leaf and a combination of leaf/root extracts enhanced germination of its seeds.