Striga hermonthica in Tigray (northern Ethiopia): prospects for control and improvement of crop productivity through mixed cropping

Fasil Reda

Striga hermonthica in Tigray (northern Ethiopia): prospects for control and improvement of crop productivity through mixed cropping

2002

Fasil Reda (Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, Addis Abeba (Ethiopia))

Ethiopia is an agrarian country located in the horn of Africa within the tropical latitude of 1 deg C and 15 deg C N and 33 deg C 48 deg C eastern longitude. The country has an area of 1,127 million square m and a population of around 60 million, 85% of which lives in rural areas mainly depending on rainfed subsistence agriculture. Cereals occupy 84% of the cultivated area. Crops are grown using traditional methods that have changed little with time. Approximately 14 species of Striga are believed to occur in Ethiopian but only five are economically important, and these are: S. hermonthica, S asiatica, S. latericea, S. aspera and S. gesnerioides. Among the parasitic weeds, S. hermonthica is the major pest threatening subsistence food production. The existing high diversity and virulent nature of the S. hermonthica, particularly in the northern regions, provide evidence that this main weedy species was part of the farming system as long as the indigenous cereal hosts - sorghum and millet. Even though, the cereal landraces could no longer cope up with the evolving process of new virulent races of the parasitic weed species and many are disappearing from the farming systems. The farmer is resorting to small cereals because of the prohibitively high parasitic weed infestation. In recent years the growing importance of Striga on the staple food crop - tef is becoming a source of major concern. The other distinguishing feature of the northern Ethiopian populations is their adaptation to cold climates (occurring in the highlands upto 2450 m.a.s.l.) and fallow lands.

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