From the present study, it could be concluded that Artemisia oil
show strong phytotoxicity against weeds (r2 = 0.75–0.99 for visible
injury in sprayed plants) and hence could be useful for developing
as a bioherbicide. Among the sprayed test weeds, the phytotoxic
effect of Artemisia oil was greatest on E. crus-galli followed by
P. hysterophorus with ≥80% injury observed 7-DAS (r2 = 0.80 and
0.93, respectively). On the contrary, the phytotoxic effect was the
minimum against C. occidentalis. Nevertheless, the greater injury
levels and thus weed suppression by Artemisia essential oil could be
obtained with the use of adjuvants or development of formulations;
however, further work is required in this direction. Furthermore,
studies are required to evaluate the herbicidal potential of Artemisia
essential oil under field conditions and determine the effect on
non-target species.
Acknowledgements