Allelopathic Effect of Crambe (Crambe abyssinica) Extract on Corn Seedlings

The crambe crop is an interesting option for the production of biodiesel, mainly due to the high oil content (35%) and the corn one of the most implanted crops in Brazil. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the allelopathic effect of crambe in the initial development of maize. The experiment was carried out in the laboratory of seed and plant evaluation (LASP) and laboratory of soil physics (LAFIS) of UNIOESTE-Cascavel. The seeds of corn with germination of 93.5% were submitted to four concentrations plus the control in the different parts of the crambe plant, where the growth and mass of corn were valued. The experimental design was completely randomized with 4 replicates per treatment. The statistical analysis consisted of analysis of variance and the means of the treatments were compared by the Tukey test at 5% of significance. The extract of the whole crambe plant stimulated aerial length, root length, fresh and dry mass of corn shoot. Root, stem and leaf extracts inhibited the initial development of maize in relation to growth and fresh and dry shoot mass.