Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the world's largest human population growth rate, some of its poorest soils, and a high incidence of crop pests. Weeds are the major pest in virtually all of the agro-ecological zones of SSA. Parasitic and perennial weeds dominate the savanna vegetation zones whereas rap...

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Autor principal: Akobundu, I.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 1991
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101748
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author Akobundu, I.
author_browse Akobundu, I.
author_facet Akobundu, I.
author_sort Akobundu, I.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the world's largest human population growth rate, some of its poorest soils, and a high incidence of crop pests. Weeds are the major pest in virtually all of the agro-ecological zones of SSA. Parasitic and perennial weeds dominate the savanna vegetation zones whereas rapidly growing annual weeds overwhelm crops in the forest vegetation zones. High weed pressure coupled with inefficient weed control practices have tied up a disproportionate percentage of SSA's economically active population in the primary task of food production and also have kept crop yields down. In the absence of organized weed research and professional training in weed science to meet the needs of the region, improved cultivars of virtually all crops fall prey to weeds, and available arable land becomes limited to that area that can be kept free of weeds. A preponderance of annual weeds in humid parts of SSA together with hard-to-kill perennial grasses and parasitic weeds in the subhumid and arid agro-ecological zones hamper crop production and frustrate farmers throughout the region. Sustainable food production in the region can be achieved by introducing improved weed management technologies and by addressing other food production constraints of the region.
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spelling CGSpace1017482024-11-15T08:52:55Z Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production Akobundu, I. growth rate soil crops pests weeds food production Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the world's largest human population growth rate, some of its poorest soils, and a high incidence of crop pests. Weeds are the major pest in virtually all of the agro-ecological zones of SSA. Parasitic and perennial weeds dominate the savanna vegetation zones whereas rapidly growing annual weeds overwhelm crops in the forest vegetation zones. High weed pressure coupled with inefficient weed control practices have tied up a disproportionate percentage of SSA's economically active population in the primary task of food production and also have kept crop yields down. In the absence of organized weed research and professional training in weed science to meet the needs of the region, improved cultivars of virtually all crops fall prey to weeds, and available arable land becomes limited to that area that can be kept free of weeds. A preponderance of annual weeds in humid parts of SSA together with hard-to-kill perennial grasses and parasitic weeds in the subhumid and arid agro-ecological zones hamper crop production and frustrate farmers throughout the region. Sustainable food production in the region can be achieved by introducing improved weed management technologies and by addressing other food production constraints of the region. 1991-09 2019-06-25T17:09:04Z 2019-06-25T17:09:04Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101748 en Limited Access Cambridge University Press Akobundu, I. (1991). Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production. Weed Technology, 5, 680-690.
spellingShingle growth rate
soil
crops
pests
weeds
food production
Akobundu, I.
Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title_full Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title_fullStr Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title_full_unstemmed Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title_short Weeds in human affairs in subSaharan Africa: implications for sustainable food production
title_sort weeds in human affairs in subsaharan africa implications for sustainable food production
topic growth rate
soil
crops
pests
weeds
food production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101748
work_keys_str_mv AT akobundui weedsinhumanaffairsinsubsaharanafricaimplicationsforsustainablefoodproduction