## 1 Introduction  
Weeds compete with cultivated crops for space, light, water, and nutrition, and they have a negative impact on the health and yield of growing plants [1; 2; 3; 4]. A biological control of weeds offers more advantages over mechanical methods and chemical herbicides, as it is more environmentally friendly and favorable for conserving biodiversity. Weed control in cultivating land using mechanical methods is not effective as it lacks durability, is labor-intensive, and expensive [5]. Excessive use of chemical herbicides has numerous negative impacts on human health and also increases the accumulation of chemical pollutants in the environment [6]. Consequently, the use of herbicides in cultivated fields not only causes environmental pollution but also triggers severe health issues in human beings, including cancer, birth defects, and neurological problems, due to toxic residual contents of herbicides [7]. Globally, over 307 biotypes from 183 plant species have acquired herbicide resistance, which is a major challenge in the agriculture sector [8]. Thus, there is an increasing interest in finding a potential and novel technique to control weeds to overcome the impact of chemical herbicides on human health and agricultural products. Allelopathy has been considered as a more environmentally friendly technique to control weeds as it effectively suppresses their germination and growth by restricting nutrient uptake [9; 10]. Allelopathic plants release various phytochemicals from different plant parts at different ratios [11; 12]. Release of these chemicals into the soil either results in toxic effects on neighboring plants, or the chemicals are transformed into new toxic compounds by soil microbes [13]. Several factors, including temperature, irradiation, drought, disease, nutrition, insects, competition, and cultivar type, influence the degree of allelopathy [14; 15; 16; 17]. The release of allelochemicals from different plant parts into the soil varies among different cultivars [18; 19; 20; 21]. The application of cover crops has several beneficial effects on the agroecosystem, as it enhances soil fertility by improving the soil moisture and organic matter content [22; 23]. Planting cover crops not only enhances microbial activity but also protects the soil from erosion during heavy rain and builds up soil fertility, which often results in higher yields [24; 25]. Moreover, some cover crops, such as rye (_Secale cereale_), fix atmospheric nitrogen, prevent NO\({}_{3}\) leaching [26; 27], and inhibit the growth of weeds [28], which reduces the need of herbicides [29]. Cover plant cultivation is considered the best management practice (BMP) in the agroecosystem, as it distributes the nutrition from the soil to the roots and leaves and prevents nutrient runoff to streams and rivers. After termination of the cover crops, their roots decompose and release organic matter into the soil, thereby enhancing soil fertility and soil quality [11; 30; 31; 32; 33]. Cover crops are often coupled with no-tillage farming (not disturbing the soil). Recently, crop cultivation using cover crop based no-tillage farming has gained attention as an innovative practice to mitigate environmental pollution [34] and to protect soil microbes [35]. No-tillage farming stores more carbon in the soil in the form of plant residue and improves the soil structure by maintaining size distribution of aggregates, pores, and voids [36]. Tillage farming, on the other hand, results in a higher root penetration, easier weed control, and a higher yield [37], and it is considered a promising technique for improving soil quality and sustaining crop production [38; 39]. _S. cereale_ is widely used as a cover plant for its rapid and reliable growth in a wide range of climatic conditions and cultivated crop fields [40]. The high survival rate during winter and the extensive rooting system of _S.