Research Information System
XV International Scientific Agriculture Symposium „AGROSYM 2024“, Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina, 10 - 13 November 2024, pp.793-797
Consumers demand for organic foods is increasing all over the world due to heavily used synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture that severally treats human and environment health. Organic farming is the way of producing good quality crops in harmony with biodiversity and ecosystems. Weeds remain one of the most important problems associated with organic crop production since organic farming excludes the use of synthetic herbicides. Essential oils have a great potential to be used as bio-herbicide to control problem weeds in organic farming. A study was conducted to determine the bio-herbicidal potential of organically grown oregano (Origanum onites), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and sage (Salvia officinalis) essential oils. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with three replications. Different concertation of essential oil (2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 ml/L) alone and vinegar mixed were applied on the four leaf stage pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus). The major essential oil components of oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage essential oils were carvacrol, thimol, 1,8 cineole and b-thujone, respectively. The highest herbicidal effects on pigweed were obtained from vinegar + 32 ml/l essential oil mixed treatments. Herbicidal effects of essential oil increased with the increasing concentration of essential oils. Among the tested plant species, oregano and rosemary essential oils were found the most effective when used as herbicide. Vinegar alone had low herbicidal effect on pigweed seedlings. However, the vinegar and essential oil mix had the highest herbicidal effects on pigweed seedlings. Essential oil and vinegar mixtures could be used in organic farming to control problem with weeds in organic farming.