The control of Striga hermonthica in peasant farming

Ogborn, J. (1972) The control of Striga hermonthica in peasant farming. In: Proceedings 11th British Weed Control Conference, 1972, Zaria, Nigeria.

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Abstract

See also WA 21, 594. Sorghum is the staple food grain of N. Nigerian peasant farmers but is often parasitised by S. hermonthica; its control on sorghum in mixed crops is discussed. Intensive hand weeding is not attempted by farmers and is uneconomic. Farmers near Samaru regard an infestation of 1-2 S. hermonthica plants/m2 (10-20 thousand/ha) in the crop as acceptable (equivalent to about 10% loss of yield). A satisfactory spot sprayer costing only 5 Nigerian shillings was developed in 1971; with this pistol grip sprayer, farmers can treat individual S. hermonthica plants up to 1 m away with relatively coarse drift-free droplets produced by an adjustable nozzle. The sprayer delivers almost exactly 1 ml/stroke; spot treatment with ametryne at 0.4 mg/ml of solution using a total rate of 20 g a.i./ha was effective in village trials. The cost was 3 shillings/ha including the cost of the sprayer. Spot sprays of atrazine, linuron and MCPA also controlled S. hermonthica at rates below 0.5 kg/ha; groundnuts and cowpeas (Vigna sp.) tolerated 0.2 kg ametryne/ha. Cowpeas are more tolerant of fluorodifen than of ametryne but both groundnuts and cowpeas tolerate linuron. With the aid of the spot sprayer, it should be possible to organize the virtual eradication of S. hermanthica by persistent communal efforts at village level

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Author Affiliation:	Institute of Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, PMB 1044, Zaria, Nigeria
Subjects:	Plant Protection
Divisions:	Groundnut Sorghum
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2012 05:47
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2012 05:48
URI:	http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/7876

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