(Imperata cylindrica)
Credits: Biovision-Infonet
(c) Chris Evans, The University of Georgia
(c) Ahmad Fuad Morad, 2011
In south-western Nigeria, satintail is a major weed reducing maize yields. The rhizomes of this weed often reduce the efficacy of farmers’ weed control practice (slashing followed by 2-4 times of additional weeding) and contribute to high yield losses.
What to do:
- Slash satintail at regular intervals, followed by handweeding
- Remove rhizhomes through deep tillage. In field trials grain yield was 62% less than in fields where rhizomes had been removed from soil before sowing maize.
- Plant cover crop such as Mucuna to smoother the weed