specialty journal of agricultural sciences
Volume 4,
2018,
Issue 3
Utilitarian Aspects of Weeds of Wheat Fields in Charbagh Valley, District Swat, Pakistan
Muhammad Nauman Khan, Fazal Hadi, Maryam Bibi, Naushad Khan, Syed Mukaram Shah
Pages: 1-8
Abstract
The weed survey was conducted from Feburary 2016 to May 2016, in the fields of wheat crops of Charbagh Valley, district Swat. Information on 18 families and 34 species was collected with regard to their ecological characteristics, medicinal and other economic uses by the local inhabitants. The dominant families were Fabaceae and Poaceae represented by 5 species each, followed by Asteraceae with 4 species. Biological spectra expressed that therophytes were the major life form class with 31 species (91.176%) and geophytes had 3 species (8.8235%). Leaf size classification showed nanophyll with 11 species (32.35%) as the major size class followed by microphyll having 10 species (29.41%), mesophylls with 6 species (17.64%), and leptophyll with 5 species (14.70%), while macrophyll and megaphyll had single species each (2.941%). Weeds were used as vegetables, medicine, and for grazing animals as fodder. The present study was aimed to screen out the ecological aspects of weed flora in wheat crops of Charbagh. The recent work is the first report on the weeds’ ecology of Charbagh Valley. This may help the future intensive and extinsive researches on weed diversity in the area.