An Integrated Approach to the Control of Striga on Sorghum

Abstract

Two experiments on intercropping and one on integrated management of Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth were carried out at three sites in northern Ethiopia. In the intercropping experiment soybean, cowpea and haricot bean were tested in different spatial and temporal arrangements with sorghum. The integrated management experiment consisted of various combinations of resistant cultivars, planting methods, fertilizer application, and manual weeding or herbicide (2,4-D) application in comparison with the farmers’ practices. Intercropping was generally effective in suppressing Striga population. Striga shoot counts in intra-row intercropped sorghum with cowpea registered 2 percent of the check but this treatment also reduced sorghum yield significantly. On the other hand, the planting arrangement involving one row of legume intercrop for every two rows of sorghum resulted in significant suppression of Striga without significant negative effect on sorghum yield. The fiill package of Striga control practices involving resistant cultivars, row planting, fertilizer (42 kg N ha-1), with supplementary hand pulling at Sirinka and 2,4-D (1 1 ha-1) at Adi-Bakel resulted in about 70 and 63 percent reduction of Striga shoot counts, respectively, compared with the check plots. The intercropping experiment revealed that its effects were site-specific. Results of our experiments suggest that a full package of recommended management practices be employed for effective suppression of Striga and increased yield of sorghum.