Rice allelopathy: strategy for weed management

One of the challenges in rice production is weed management. While synthetic herbicides have traditionally been used to address this issue, their long-term use can have detrimental effects on both the agroecosystem and human health. An alternative method lies in leveraging allelochemicals naturally present in rice, which are powerful tools for biological weed management. These allelochemicals are released by various parts of rice such as roots, stems, leaves, and other parts, and consist of a diverse range of compounds that can interact with the environment, as putative allelochemicals, including phenolics, terpenoids, fatty acids, steroid, and others. These compounds can damage the biochemical and physiological processes in weed, effectively inhibiting their growth. Over several decades of allelopathy study, it has been known that several rice varieties have the potential to inhibit the growth of weed and genes related to rice allelopathy have been identified. These genes are associated with allelochemicals biosynthesis which has been proven to suppress weed. Understanding the mechanisms of action and biological processes involved in allelopathy not only improves the knowledge but also provides valuable metrics for developing environmentally friendly weed management strategies in rice production.