Journal of Agriculture
and Environmental Sciences

Storage Dynamics of Seeds of Croton Hirtus L’Herit (Euphorbiaceae) in crop Soils of Central Western Ivory Coast
Arsène Gué1, Awa Touré, Joseph I. Ipou

Abstract
Croton hirtus is a major weed in food crops of Central Western Ivory Coast. The annual evolution of the soil seed bank of weeds in the Issia department was studied in order to predict infestations and to identify effective strategies for its management. The time variation of the soil seed bank was evaluated according to the mode of weeding control of plots and soil texture. In general, a strong increase of the seed storage of Croton hirtus was noted. However, it is the tilled land containing soils with clay texture that have recorded the greatest soil seed bank with respect to the dynamic evolution of Croton hirtus with averages of 8,647 seeds/m2 and 11,316 seeds/m2, respectively. These results suggest that the adoption of crops promoting the reduction of the seed stock would be effective against Croton hirtus. Hence, one should undertake tilling before fructification of Croton hirtus to avoid re-infestation of plots.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jaes.v4n1a2