Assessment of the allelopathic potential of 17 Iranian barley cultivars in different development stages and their variations over 60 years of selection

Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the allelopathic potential of 17 Iranian barley cultivars in four development stages and their variations over the last 60 years of collection. Imbibed seeds and water leachates that were extracted from the barley plants at the seedling, tillering, stem elongation, and heading stages were used for the bioassays, including filter paper, neighboring barley seeds in soil, and soil mixed with dried barley residues. The experiments were conducted with the use of wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) as the test plant. The Germination Rate Index (GRI) and emergence of S. arvensis were inhibited on both the filter paper and soil. The highest inhibitory effect was seen with the tillering stage's water leachate on filter paper. The GRI decreased in response to the increased density of barley imbibed seeds. The germination was less affected by the presence of barley seeds from the soil than those from the filter paper. The GRI of S. arvensis seeds was lower in the older than in the recently developed cultivars. Although there were some fluctuations in the GRI value with time, the germination inhibitory effect has decreased as new, higher‐yielding cultivars have been released.