Thous ands of farmers in Kenya and Nigeria are successfully battling the invasion in their farms by Striga, a deadly parasitic weed also called “purple vampire”. They are now enjoying higher yields in maize, the number one staple in Kenya and an important cash crop in Nigeria.
The key to managing this weed is to combine sustainable multiple-pronged technology options being advocated by the Integrated Striga Management in Africa (ISMA) project to sustainably eliminate the weed from their fields, says Dr Mel Oluoch, ISMA project manager.
More than 60 project implementers, partners, private sector players, and other stakeholders met in Kisumu, Kenya, 4-7 June for the Second Annual Review and Planning Meeting to review the project status, evaluate project indicators and processes, identify gaps, and plan for next year’s implementation.
Striga attacks and greatly reduces the production of staple foods and commercial crops such as maize, sorghum, millet, rice, sugarcane, and cowpea. The weed attaches itself to the roots of plants and removes water and nutrients and can cause losses of up to 100% in farmers’ crops. Furthermore, a single flower of the weed can produce up to 50,000 seeds that can lie dormant in the soil for up to 20 years.
The weed is the number one maize production constraint in Western Kenya, and Nigeria, infesting most farmers’ fields.
The management technologies range from simple cultural practices such as intercropping maize with legumes such as groundnuts; crop rotation of maize with soybean which stimulates Striga to germinate but which later dies in the absence of the maize host to latch onto; deploying a “push-pull’ technology that involves intercropping cereals with specific Striga-suppressing desmodium forage legume; using Striga-resistant maize varieties; and using CIMMYT-developed maize varieties resistant to Imazapyr—a BASF herbicide (StrigAway®), which kills the Striga seed as it germinates and before it can cause any damage; and adopting Striga biocontrol technologies which uses a naturally occurring host-specific fungal pathogen that kills the Striga at all stages without affecting other crops.
Imazapyr-resistant maize varieties with natural resistance to Striga hermonthica have been developed. The best hybrids produce 19% to 333% more grain yields under Striga infestation, sustain 17% to 57% less Striga damage, and support 63% to 98% less emerged Striga plants compared with the commercial hybrid check. In addition, new Striga resistant hybrids and open-pollinated synthetic varieties (OPVs) that combine Striga resistance with good st andability have been developed. The hybrids and OPVs produce 47% to 126% more grain yields under Striga infestation, sustain 17% to 60% less Striga damage, and support 45% to 90% less emerged Striga plants compared with the common farmers’ varieties and commercial hybrids.
ISMA (http://www.iita.org/web/striga/) is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is being implemented with icipe, CIMMYT, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), BASF Crop Protection, and other national agricultural research and extension services and private sector players in Kenya and Nigeria.
À propos de l'IITA (www.iita.org)
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award-winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by CGIAR.
About CGIAR (www.cgiar.org)
CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers who are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations.
For more information, contact Dr Mel Oluoch at m.oluoch@cgiar.org.
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