Impiego delle Cover Crop Allelopatiche per il Controllo Sostenibile delle Infestanti negli Agro-ecosistemi

[Autom. eng. transl.] In conventional agriculture weeding through synthetic herbicides is becoming an increasingly expensive practice, which can also have negative effects on the environment. This has stimulated an interest in alternative weed control strategies, among which allelopathy is a useful tool for integrated weed management in agroecosystems. In this work the rye has been used as a cover crop due to its recognized ability to suppress weeds with allelopathic and competitive mechanisms. In fact, the mulch of this species releases BOA (benzoxazolin-2 (3H) -one) and DIBOA (2,4-dihydroxy-1,4 (2H) -benzoxazin-3-one) which inhibit the germination and growth of numerous dicotyledonous weeds and monocotyledons. Furthermore, the response mechanisms of the various weeds were studied in the presence of different quantities of benzoxazinoids. The results show that rye mulch can be used in integrated weed control strategies, exploiting benzoxazinoids as bio-herbicides. However, this study shows that the survival of some weeds depends not only on the levels of BOA present in the soil, but also on the effectiveness of the detoxification mechanisms of the various weeds. Overall, the data indicate the following sensitivity classification to the BOA: A. theophrasti &lt;&lt; <C. album<<P. oleracea ≤ A. retroflexus.