effect of soil solarization on common lambsquarters (chenopodium album l.) control in birjand region

to evaluate the effect of soil solarization on common lambsquarters control (chenopodium album l.), an experiment was conducted at the research farm of college of agriculture, university of birjand.the factorial experiment was performed as a randomized complete block design with three factors including the number of clear plastic layers (uncovered as the control, 1-layer and 2 –layer plastic sheets), duration of coverage (15, 30 and 45 days) and seed burial depth (0, 5, 10 and 15 cm) with three replications.the seed samples alternatively pulled out of different depths of soil and were transported to the research laboratory. the seeds which were germinated in the field were counted, then the rest of the seeds after preparation were tested in the research laboratory in the germinator. during the germination period, some traits such as; germination rate, length of shoot and radicle, percentage of decayed germinated seeds were measured in the laboratory. results showed that, solarization significantly increased soil temperature (as much as 6.3 to 15.1 ° c) compared to the control. maximum percentage decayed seeds were at two-layer plastic. the percentage of decayed seeds increased by increasing of solarization duration and it decreased by increasing of burial depths. as a whole, solarization reduced the common lambsquarters seed germinability and ultimately led to an effective control of this weed species. according to the results of this research, it appears that solarization can be used as a nonchemical method for common lambsquarters control especially in arid regions of the country.