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Labor-Saving Weed Technologies for Lowland Rice Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jonne Rodenburg*
Affiliation:
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), P.O. Box 33581, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Kazuki Saito
Affiliation:
AfricaRice, 01 BP 2031, Cotonou, Benin
Runyambo Irakiza
Affiliation:
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), P.O. Box 33581, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Derek W. Makokha
Affiliation:
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), P.O. Box 33581, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Enos A. Onyuka
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Faculty of Plant Sciences, Berlin, Germany
Kalimuthu Senthilkumar
Affiliation:
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), P.O. Box 33581, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

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Time requirements, weed control efficacy, and yield effects of three labor-saving weed technologies were tested against hand weeding during three seasons in 2012 and 2013. The technologies included two hand-operated mechanical weeders, the straight-spike and the twisted-spike floating weeder, and the PRE application of oxadiazon. The straight-spike floating weeder reduced weeding time by 32 to 49%, the twisted-spike floating weeder reduced weeding time by 32 to 56%, and the application of herbicide required 88 to 97% less time than hand weeding. Herbicide application provided the best weed control in two of the three seasons. No differences in weed control efficacy were observed between mechanical and hand weeding. Yield differences were only observed in season 3 with higher rice yields after PRE application of oxadiazon compared with other weed management treatments.

Los requisitos de tiempo, la eficacia del control de malezas, y los efectos en el rendimiento de tres tecnologías para reducir las labores manual fueron evaluados en comparación con la deshierba manual durante tres temporadas productivas en 2012 y 2013. Las tecnologías incluyeron dos cultivadores mecánicos operados manualmente, el cultivador flotante de picos rectos, el cultivador flotante de picos curvados, y la aplicación PRE de oxadiazon. El cultivador flotante de picos rectos redujo el tiempo de deshierba de 32 a 49%, el cultivador flotante de picos curvados redujo el tiempo de deshierba de 32 a 56%, y la aplicación de herbicidas requirió 88 a 97% menos tiempo de deshierba manual. La aplicación de herbicidas brindó el mejor control de malezas en dos de las tres temporadas. No se observaron diferencia en la eficacia en el control de malezas entre la deshierba mecánica y la manual. Las diferencias en el rendimiento fueron solamente observadas en la tercera temporada con mayores rendimientos del arroz después de la aplicación PRE de oxadiazon al compararse con los otros tratamientos de manejo de malezas.

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - SA
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons license is included and the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America

Footnotes

Associate Editor for this paper: Eric Webster, Louisiana State University.

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