WARDA IPM project
03: Integrated weed management in rice
Duration: Started 1990; a rolling programme
Purpose: To develop labour-saving methods to manage
weed problems in rice production.
Background/description: Weeds are the problem most commonly cited by farmers
in West Africa and limit the area that farmers cultivate. Traditionally, farmers in the upland and
rainfed lowland systems make use of fallows between rice crops to reduce the
ingression and build-up of noxious weeds. Cropping intensification in the
traditional rice production systems has resulted in reduced yields with
increased weed growth accounting for about 50% of this reduction. In savanna
areas, farmers have been able to intensify production through the adoption of
animal traction that enables then to improve the level of seedbed preparation
and weed control. Herbicides are used
by only a minority of farmers, but are more commonly used where farmers have
access to credit, supplies and information. In the forest zone, where the majority
of upland rice is grown, farmers do not have the possibility of utilizing
animal traction to aid cultivation. In
these areas, the majority of the crops are grown with zero tillage and are
reliant on the fallow periods between crops to control weeds. Weed management
in rice production in Africa is an essential component of rice production
practices yet, despite farmers’ efforts, weeds cause yield losses of 20–26% in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Agroecozone(s) and
location(s): Humid Tropical forest, Derived savanna, rainfed uplands and lowlands,
inland valleys in Nigeria and Senegal in West Africa.
Expected outputs: a) Decision
support tools for weed management developed and disseminated; b) Improved
fallow management practices established; c) Strategies to minimize losses due
to weeds in rice developed; d) Rice cultivars highly competitive with weeds
developed, evaluated and promoted.
Potential impact and beneficiaries: The primary
beneficiaries will be the smallholder farmers and their families in West Africa
whose returns to labour are seriously constrained by crop losses due to weeds. Labour
saved due to improved weed management would be available for household
activities or other enterprises such as raising vegetables or expanding the
areas under cultivation. Reduced incidence of weeds would reduce the crop
losses and improve labour productivity.
Partners: a) National Cereals Research Institute, Bida, Nigeria; b)
NARES from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Mauritania; c) International Rice
Research Institute; d) Natural Resources Institute, University of
Greenwich, Chatham, UK
Development
investor(s): DFID and WARDA
WARDA contact person(s)/principal investigator(s): Website: www.warda.cgiar.org