IMPORTANT CHICKPEA WEEDS OF NEW DEVELOPMENTAL FARM, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

A field experiment was conducted to find out the important and most problematic weeds of chickpea crop using quadrate method at the New Developmental Farm, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan, during winter season 2010-11. The computation of importance value is a good judgment for deciding the status of a given weed in a community. Based on spatial data it is concluded that Poa annua L., Anagallis arvensis L., Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam., Euphorbia helioscopia L., Coronopus didymus L., Fumaria indica L., Avena fatua L., Rumex crispus L., Melilotus parviflora L., Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop., Ranunculus sp., Lathyrus aphaca L., Sonchus sp. and Plantago lanceolata L., were the weeds of the New Developmental Farm. The relative weed densities (%) and relative frequencies (%) of all these weeds were calculated to quantify their importance values in descending order of their percentages as following: Poa annua L. (54.75%), Anagallis arvensis L. (49.23%), Euphorbia helioscopia L. (22.92%), Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam. (22.88%), Fumaria indica L. (12.86%), Coronopus didymus L. (11.4%), Avena fatua L. (10.11%), Rumex crispus L. (5.95%), Melilotus parviflora L. (5.50%), Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. (2.43%), Plantago lanceolata L. (0.88%), Lathyrus aphaca L. (0.73%), Ranunculus sp. (0.73%), and Sonchus sp. (0.67%). The higher the importance value of a weed, the greater is its competitiveness.