Interaction of wild oat (Avena fatua L.) with divergent wheat cultivars

To elucidate the competitive ability of various cultivars of wheat with wild oats,field trials were established at nwfp agricultural university,peshawar,pakistan for two crop seasons i.e. 2004-05 and 2005-06 using randomized complete block (rcb) design having four replications. each experiment comprised of 6 wheat cultivars viz.,khattakwal,ghaznavi-98,fakhar-e-sarhad,dera-91,saleem-2000 and pirsabak-85. in all the treatments,the wild oats was sown at a constant density of 10 plants m-2. data were recorded on tillers m-2,plant height (cm),number of spikes m-2,leaf area tiller-1 (cm2),spikelets spike-1,spike length (cm),grains spike-1,1000 grain weight (g),biological yield (kg ha-1) and grain yield (kg ha-1). most of the parameters were significantly affected by wild oats infestation. during both the years maximum number of tillers m-2,leaf area (cm2),yield and yield components were produced by saleem-2000,plant height (cm) and biological yield were however the highest in khattakwal cultivar. during both years saleem-2000 and ghaznavi-98 suppressed the growth of wild oats to the most,exhibiting that plant height was not the only criterion for aggressivity among the wheat cultivars. whereas,tillers m-2 emerged as the most important parameter indicative of competitive ability with wild oats,consequently increasing grain yield of wheat.