Authors
R Mandumbu, C Mutengwa, S Mabasa, E Mwenje, J Gotosa, V Munyati
Publication date
2017
Journal
Scientia
Volume
20
Issue
3
Pages
86-91
Description
Parasitic angiosperms are a taxonomically and geographically diverse group of plants that comprise 1% of the angiosperm flora (Gurney et al. 2006). Parasitic plants thrive on water and nutrients obtained from the host plants. Among the parasitic weeds affecting crops grown in sub-Saharan Africa are Striga hermonthica and Striga asiatica infesting cereals such as maize, sorghum, millets and upland rice and Striga gesneroides which attack legumes and tobacco. Alectra vogelii infects cowpeas. Currently in sub-Saharan Africa parasitic weeds Striga asiatica and Striga hermonthica are estimated to infest over 10 million hectares and cause about US $7 billion losses annually (Berner et al., 1995). Adult Striga spp produce up to 500 000 seeds per plant with a longevity of 20 years. Striga spp and Alectra vogelii pose an ominous obstacle to a continent struggling with food security and rural stagnation (AATF, 2006). Fifteen countries of Eastern, western and southern Africa account for 92% of the country’s Striga infested fields and these include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cote Delvoire, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These weeds drive households to into extreme poverty and places the nations’ food security at risk. According to Atera et al.,(2012), the losses depend Striga density, host spp, genotype, landuse systems, nutritional status and rainfall patterns. Crop losses ranging from 20–80% and total crop failure occur in severe infestations (Teka et al., 2014) have been realised. The Striga problem in Africa is exasperated by its requisite adaptation to the climatic conditions …
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