SUMMER WEEDS FLORA OF DISTRICT DERA ISAMAIL KHAN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PAKISTAN

Weed identification is one of the important factors in weed management process for high crop production. The presence of weeds in a specific region and their identification can aid in selection of more efficient method for their control. Due to infestation of many species of weeds in various crops in district Dera Ismail Khan, the present survey was conducted to identify the summer weeds flora of the surveyed area during the mid-summer of 2013. This survey has covered eleven locations randomly selected within the district (i.e. Bank of River Indus, Gomal University’s fields and Lawns, Government Fruit Nursery Farm Agriculture Extension Department, Draban Road’s fields, Bannu road’s fields, Daman, Mandra Saidan, Mandra Kalan, Rang Pur, Kachi Paind Khan and Himat). From the present study, 26 weeds were identified belonging to 15 different families and two different classes i.e. Mangoliopsida and Liliopsida. Majority of the weeds were from family Poaceae (6) and family Amaranthaceae (4). Among them 13 families belong to dicotyledon while two belongs to monocot. Our survey suggests that proper control method should be launched based on the habitat and life cycle of the identified weeds (i.e. annual, biennial or perennial for effective control of these weeds).