Some competition experiments with alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.) in replacement series

Summary The interaction between alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica) and maize or sorghum was studied in competition experiments according to the replacement principle. Dry matter yield of alang-alang in these experiments appeared hardly affected by the presence of maize or sorghum, while this yield of the latter two was strongly reduced by the presence of alang-alang. The relative yield total (RYT) reached unity except in one experiment in which a value of 0.6 was obtained.The results suggest that the allelopathic activity of alang-alang will find expression in an RYT deviating from one only if alang-alang is not able to utilize all available space.Part of the research supported by the Netherlands Foundation for Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO) grant W86-34