Potential of some legume seedlings as stimulants to witch weed [Striga hermonthica (del.) benth.(Lamiales: orobanchaceae)] seed germination and root attachment

A laboratory experiment was conducted at the Weed Science Laboratory of Agricultural Research Corporation, Wad Medani (Sudan) in 2007. The experiment adopted the El Mubarak (1998) improvised disc technique. Tentatively, Striga seed germination and attachment of germinated striga seeds to roots of four legumes species namely, Bambara nuts, Vignasubterranea; ground nuts, Arachishypogoea; Clitoria, Clitoria spp. and Desmondium spp) were tested and two sorghum cultivars (Wad Ahmed and ArfaGadamak) were used as checks. Results showed that, Bambara nuts, Clitoria and Desmondium spp were antagonistic and resulted in less Striga seed germination than sorghum while Ground nuts resulted in high Striga germination similar to those for the sole sorghum checks. Nevertheless, all four legume species tested resulted in less Striga attachment to roots than for sorghum. Therefore, this study recommends the use of ground nuts as a rotational crop in striga infested soils as they can effectively reduce the striga seed load in the soil.