Fertilisers differentially affect facultative and obligate parasitic weeds of rice and only occasionally improve yields in infested fields

Abundance of Rhamphicarpa fistulosa in rainfed lowland rice fields in the Savannah region of Togo: Moderate influence of physico‐chemical characteristics of soils

“…A previous study, for its part, highlighted that the level of R. fistulosa infestation depended especially on soil fertility status, based on farmer perception (N'cho et al, 2014), while Rodenburg et al (2011) highlighted that application of NPK fertilisers reduced both the number of emergence and the aboveground biomass of R. fistulosa plants. However, Tippe et al (2020) showed that application of different soil amendments frequently increased infestation level of R. fistulosa, emphasising that the effects of application of fertilisers require further study. Our study also underlines the low soil fertility (Ekeleme et al, 2014;Kamara et al, 2014).…”

“…However, Tippe et al . (2020) showed that application of different soil amendments frequently increased infestation level of R. fistulosa , emphasising that the effects of application of fertilisers require further study. Our study also underlines the low soil fertility in the Savannah region in northern Togo, in accordance with Poch and Ubalde (2006).…”

“…Burkina Faso Benin Niger the results obtained under controlled conditions and in fields were sometimes opposed (see Tippe et al, 2020). Based on this prior knowledge, in order to develop effective management strategies of R. fistulosa, it appears important to investigate whether the presence and abundance of this facultative hemiparasitic weed in arable field is potentially linked to the physico-chemical characteristics of soils.…”

“…In contrast, previous studies on Striga species parasitising different crops throughout the sub-Saharan geographical area have highlighted an influence of several physico-chemical characteristics of soils on the incidence and/or the infestation level of these weeds (Ekeleme et al, 2014;Kamara et al, 2014). Moreover, fertiliser applications are known to influence the level of germination, attachment and infestation of parasitic weeds in different crops (Farina et al, 1985;Raju et al, 1990;Jamil et al, 2011;Jamil et al, 2012;Tippe et al, 2020), including R. fistulosa (Rodenburg et al, 2011), although F I G U R E 1 1Location of the sampled fields in 2012 (red points) and in 2013 (green points) in the five prefectures of the Savannah region of Togo [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary. com]…”

Management of Infection by Parasitic Weeds: A Review

“…As such, it could create opportunities to obtain control strategies based in biologically derived alternative chemistries, to protect the sustainability of existing resistant mechanisms by creating resistance-enhanced crops through gene pyramiding, and to expand the available number of resistant genes for breeding beyond the limited gene pool of a given crop and its wild interbreeding relatives [ 157 , 163 , 181 ]. Besides the above-mentioned control methods, other non-chemical strategies such as soil fertility amendments or solarization have proven effective in some cases of small-holder farmers or high-value specialty crops [ 2 , 12 , 164 , 182 , 183 , 184 ].…”