Controlling wild rice infestations in cultivated rice. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Principally based on Projects R7345, R8198 and R8477. New practices for managing infestations of wild rice species in lowland rice in West and East Africa have been developed and validated by farmers. Such infestations can reduce rice yields by up to 2 tonnes per hectare, and require a lot of labour for weeding. Plus, rice contaminated with seeds of wild species sells for only half the market price. In Ghana, farmers preferred to spray with glyphosate before planting, or to switch to transplanting in bunded fields if they couldn't afford herbicide. In Tanzania, farmers took up a reduced tillage-plus-herbicide system as it was a costeffective labour-saving option that could even reclaim land previously abandoned to wild rice. These practical options are ready for out-scaling to large areas, and extension materials already exist.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (8 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP31, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 35.