Striga Infestation in Kenya: Status, Distribution and Management Options

Atera, Evans Atuti; Ishii, Takashige; Onyango, J. C.; Itoh, Kazuyuki; Azuma, Tetsushi

doi:10.5539/sar.v2n2p99

Cited by 31 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…f. (palatable fodder), Andropogon gayanus Kunth (palatable fodder), Imperata cylindrical (L.) (good roofing material), and Crotalaria retusa (L.) (green manure) were denoted healthy. Similarly, the majority of farmers listed the presence of S. hermonthica, a noxious parasitic weed of cereals [41,42], as an indicator of non-healthy soils. This is most likely due to the devastating effects of S. hermonthica in the GS, where staple foods such as maize, sorghum, millet and upland rice (Oryza sativa (L.) are cultivated.…”

Section: Farmers' Perception and Indigenous Indicators Of Soil Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana

et al. 2018

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Efforts to improve soil productive capacity aimed at boosting crop production in the Northern Ghana has primarily focused on field-based experiments with little documentation on farmer practice and local indigenous knowledge of soil management. A sample group of 114 farmers from five farming communities in the Guinea Savannah was interviewed to evaluate their indigenous knowledge of crop production practices in the context of soil health, fertilization management, and crop yield. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and responses for each category were calculated using simple proportions. Farmers’ fertilization practice was primarily influenced by fertilization resource availability and crop yield response. The results showed that inorganic fertilization was the commonest fertilization type among farmers. Farmer local indicators of soil health were predominantly limited to visually observable signs such as presence or absence of indicator plants, growth vigor of plants, soil color, and tilth, texture, and compaction. Non-tactile and visible indicators, notably soil chemical composition and presence of soil microorganisms, was rarely used. The listed indicators were congruent with scientific reports, although some knowledge gaps, particularly on the use of indicator plants, were identified. The use of indicator plants as determinants of healthy or non-healthy soils appeared to be influenced by the ease of control of weeds, its utilitarian benefits, benefits to the soil, and threats on cultivated crops. Famers were well informed about the decreasing crop yield. Fertilization practices and limitations in soil management practices with proposed capacity building approaches aimed at enhancing productive capacities of cultivated farmlands are discussed.

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Section: Farmers' Perception and Indigenous Indicators Of Soil Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana

et al. 2018

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“…Striga is one of the severe biological crop pests reducing food production in Sub Saharan Africa resulting in more than US$1billion in losses every year (Atera et al, 2013;Scholes and Press, 2008). Striga is a parasitic weed whose existence relies on availability of the cereal crops in particular maize and sorghum (Khan et al, 2002;Midega et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Planetscope and Sentinel Sentinel-2 Space-Borne Sensors in Mapping Striga Weed Using Guided Regularised Random Forest Classification Ensemble

Mudereri

Dube

Adel-Rahman

et al. 2019

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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Abstract. Weeds are one of the major restrictions to sustaining crop productivity. Weeds often outcompete crops for nutrients, soil moisture, solar radiation, space and provide platforms for breeding of pests and diseases. The ever-growing global food insecurity triggers the need for spatially explicit innovative geospatial technologies that can deliver timely detection of weeds within agro-ecological systems. This will help pinpoint maize fields to be prioritized for weed control. Satellite remote sensing offers incomparable opportunities for precision agriculture, ecological applications and vegetation characterisation, with vast socioeconomic benefits. This work compares and evaluates the strength of Sentinel-2 (S2) satellite with the constellation of Dove nanosatellites i.e. PlanetScope (PS) data in detecting and mapping Striga (Striga hermonthica) weed within intercropped maize fields in Rongo sub-county in western Kenya. We applied the S2 and PS derived spectral data and vegetation indices in mapping the Striga occurrence. Data analysis was implemented, using the Guided Regularised Random Forest (GRRF) classifier. Comparatively, Sentinel-2 demonstrated slightly lower Striga detection capacity than PlanetScope, with an overall accuracy of 88% and 92%, respectively. The results further showed that the VNIR (Blue, Green Red and NIR) and the Atmospheric resistance Vegetation Index (ARVI) were the most fundamental variables in detecting and mapping Striga presence in maize fields. Findings from this work demonstrate that Sentinel-2 data has the capability to provide spatial explicit near real-time field level Striga detection &ndash; a previously daunting task with broadband multispectral sensors.

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“…It is a parasitic weed which is often referred to as farmers' nightmare due to its negative impacts on cereal crops, especially maize. Atera, Ishii, Onyango, Itoh, & Azuma (2013) described Striga spp. as one of the greatest biological constraints to food production in sub-Saharan Africa; a more serious problem than insects, birds, and plant diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profitability of striga tolerant maize variety (SAMMAZ 17) amongst smallholder farmers in Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria

Garba

Ahmed

Katung

et al. 2017

S Afr. Jnl. Agric. Ext.

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The study was conducted in Lapai, Niger State, North central Nigeria to determine the profitability of improved maize variety (SAMMAZ 17) in cooperative farmer's fields. Demonstration plots were cited in three cooperative farms where the improved variety and a local variety were planted. All agronomic practices were carried out uniformly and simultaneously on the plots. In addition, structured questionnaires were administered to 20 members of each of the cooperative farms. Participants were selected by means of simple random sampling techniques to solicit information on the performance of SAMMAZ 17 maize variety on their farms. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, while gross margin analysis was used to compare the profitability of maize varieties. The results revealed that maize farmers were mostly male and small-scale in operations. The local maize variety supported high Striga infestation with low yield of 1.7 t/ha, while SAMMAZ 17 yield was 4.4 t/ha under less Striga infestation. The gross margin production of SAMMAZ 17 maize variety was N 254,127.40, while the gross margin for the production of farmer's maize variety was N 102,517.90. Based on these findings, SAMMAZ 17 was found to be profitable and is therefore recommended for planting in Striga endemic fields in North Central Nigeria.

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Striga Infestation in Kenya: Status, Distribution and Management Options

Cited by 31 publications

References 41 publications

Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana

Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana

A Comparative Analysis of Planetscope and Sentinel Sentinel-2 Space-Borne Sensors in Mapping Striga Weed Using Guided Regularised Random Forest Classification Ensemble

Profitability of striga tolerant maize variety (SAMMAZ 17) amongst smallholder farmers in Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria

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