Journal of Agriculture
and Environmental Sciences

Germination Capacity of Porophyllum Ruderale (JACQ.) Cass (Asteraceae) A Food Crop Weed in Côte d’Ivoire
Kpla Christine F; Touré A, Ipou Ipou J

Abstract
Porophyllum ruderale is a weed present in all the regions of Côte d’Ivoire. It is a weed that rapidly colonizes agricultural parcels. A comparative study of its seed germination in relation to agro ecological areas was carried out. Selected seeds were sown in three different environments to test their germinative capacity. These are a closed environment and two opened environment in the south and central western Côte d’Ivoire. To determine the effect of sowing depth on the germination capacity, six sowing depths were tested: 0 cm, 0.5 cm, 1 cm, 2.5 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm. The results showed that the germination rate in the open environment is significantly different from that of the closed environment. We have 40-70% in natural environments and 10% in closed environments. For the depth test, the highest germination rate was obtained with seeds sowed at soil surface (0 cm) and the smallest one at 2.5 cm. These are 84% and 2.5% respectively. Our work has shown that Porophyllum ruderale is a heliophilic species because the presence of light activates its germination capacity. In a closed environment, the absence of this factor delays the growth of the weed until preventing flowering. It therefore fails to complete its life cycle, which is about six months. Thus, deep plowing cold prevent the development of Porophyllum ruderale.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jaes.v6n2a13