Xanthium Suppression Under MaizellSunflower Intercropping System

Weed control is one of the major constraint factors in crop production around the world. Field experiments were conducted during 2008-2009 under intercropping systems involving alfalfa （Medicago sativa L.）, sweet potato （lpomoea batatas [L.] Lain.）, peanut （Arachis hypogaea L.）, and sunflower （Helianthus annuus L.） in maize （Zea mays L.） without any weeds control methods taken. The results demonstrate that maizellsunflower is most effective on weed suppression and that it also has a more competitively inhibitory effect on Xanthium compared with the other patterns by evaluating the Xanthium density and dry weight under different intercropping systems with maize. Maizellpeanut, maizellalfalfa and maizel]sweet potato intercrops have no apparent inhibitory effect on weeds. To further investigate the effect of maize]lsunflower on weed control, indoor pot experiments were conducted by determining the effect of extractions on germination rate （GR）, root vigor, MDA （malondialdehyde）, SOD （superoxide dismutase） and POD （peroxidase） content of Xanthium. The results better prove that maizellsunflower extractions have more significant inhibitory effect on GR and young root vigor of Xanthium than maize monocrop extractions.