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Efficacy of Ethylene as a Germination Stimulant of Striga hermonthica Seed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Faiz F. Bebawi  and
Robert E. Eplee
Faiz F. Bebawi
Affiliation:
Univ. Khartoum, Shambat, Sudan, and Ctr. Dir., U.S. Dep. Agric., APHIS, PPQ, Whiteville Methods Development Ctr., P.O. Box 279, Whiteville, NC 28472
Robert E. Eplee
Affiliation:
Univ. Khartoum, Shambat, Sudan, and Ctr. Dir., U.S. Dep. Agric., APHIS, PPQ, Whiteville Methods Development Ctr., P.O. Box 279, Whiteville, NC 28472
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Abstract

Ethylene gas stimulated seed germination of the pearl millet [Pennisetum americanum (L.) K. Schum] strain of Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. # STRHE) in two soil types in the North Kordofan Region of Sudan. Soils were the noncracking clay pediplain or ‘Gardud’, in Arabic, and the stabilized sand locally called ‘Qoz’. Ethylene at 1.5 kg ai/ha induced greater seed germination (suicidal seed germination) in the Gardud soil than in the Qoz soil. However, ethylene at 3.0 kg ai/ha was better on Qoz than Gardud soil. The effect of injection depth of ethylene was dependent on soil type. Ethylene was more effective when injected at a 15-cm depth in the Gardud soil and at a 30-cm depth in the Qoz soil. The viable population of S. hermonthica seed was reduced by suicidal seed germination at soil depth to 60 cm and to a horizontal distance of 25 cm from the point of ethylene injection. Ethylene-induced germination reduced seed population by 67 and 34% in Gardud and Qoz soils, respectively. A single injection of ethylene diffused up to 300 cm horizontally and up to 60 cm vertically and caused 12.6 and 8.5% reduction in viable 5. hermonthica seed in Gardud and Qoz soils, respectively. The potential of ethylene gas as an effective tool in striga control operations in a pediplain and stabilized sand soil such as is found in N. Kordofan is dependent upon the availability of the gas and the injection apparatus and the economics of its application.

Keywords

Parasitic weedwitchweedSTRHE
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 34 , Issue 5 , September 1986 , pp. 694 - 698
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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