Survey of Weeds in Sesame in the Major Growing Area of Ethiopia

Abstract

The survey of weeds was conducted in high sesame growing areas of Ethiopia namely, Metekel, Gonder, and Humera Zones during 2018/19 cropping season to assess the abundance and distribution. It was done at the crop seedling stage using a systematic sampling technique and in quadrant counts (0.5 m²). Weed species composition and their quantitative measures were calculated using descriptive formulas. The result showed 23 weed families that comprised 135 weed species. The most dominant families were Commelinaceae (5.92%), Asteraceae (11%), Cyperaceae (7.40%), Fabaceae (12.59%), and Poaceae (18.51%) respectively. Most of the species (70%) were erect annual herbs and grasses, the rest were perennials that had vegetative propagating structures, annual prostrate herbs, annual, perennial climbers, or perennial shrubs. In the morphological classification, 88 species of broadleaf weeds (65.18%) were found, followed by 33 grasses (24.44%) and 14 (10.37%) types of sedge weeds. Dicotyledonous species were found to be more dominant than monocotyledonous ones in the survey area. The highest weed densities were recorded near the crop harvest stage. Weed species composition varied between crop stages within the same location and across locations at both crop stages. Also, weed composition varied in both crop stages at different locations, indicating a devising different weed management options, which would be considered for different locations in weed flora composition. From this investigation, it can be deduced that Sorghum halepense, Convolvulus arvensis, Amaranthus spp, and Cyperus rotundus turned into a drawback in the sesame production areas.