AfroWeeds

African, Caribbean and PacificGroup of States

(ACP Secretariat) 

ACP Science and TechnologyProgramme 

African, Caribbean and PacificGroup of States

(ACP Secretariat) 

ACP Science and TechnologyProgramme 

AfroWeedsAfrican Weeds of Rice

AfroWeeds• ACP Science and Technology Programme• Ref.: EuropeAid/127860/D/ACT/ACP• CIRAD et AfricaRice

36 months• Start October 2009

Relevance of the Action

• Rice is one of the major cereals consumed in Africa

• Rice production / increasing consumption

Evolution of rice consumption and production in SSA (million tonnes)

Relevance of the Action

• Rice is one of the major cereals consumed in Africa

• Rice production / increasing consumption • Rice prices / increasing• Africa is heavily dependent on the

international market• Lowland rice production systems / 52% of the

total area under rice in Sub-Saharan Africa

Relevance of the Action• Limited production / ineffective control of

weeds (responsible to 28-89 % of yield losses)• Better productivity – effective weed control – effective adoption result

Specific problems• Integrated weed management / knowledge of

weed biology and ecology • Extension services and researchers of National

Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) or Universities / a lack of information on problem weeds – weeds identification– weeds biology– management practices

Relevance of the proposal

• New science and technology framework – weed research– management in rice production

• Centralised platform of information on the major weeds

The specific objectives• Consolidation of existing scientific knowledge

for the weed species of irrigated and rain-fed lowland rice

• Enhancing exploitation and dissemination of best weed management practices

BeninSenegalMaliBurkina FasoIvory CoastGhanaNigeriaTchadNigerGuinea

KenyaTanzaniaUgandaMozambiqueMadagascar 

Outputs and expected results

• Established and consolidated networks at intra-ACP level

• Fully functional website containing the knowledge base on the weed species

• Computer tool for identification and information on rice weeds for Africa

• Concise paper version of the knowledge base– information flow for the extension workers– disseminating scientific knowledge

LKB

Portal AfroWeeds.orgFeed and consult

Shared regional Knowledge Base

IDAO IKONA

LKB

LKB

LKB

LKB LKB

LKB

LKB

LKB : Local Knowledge Base

AFROweeds tools 

AFROweeds Web site

http://www.afroweeds.org 

AFROweeds forum

http://www.afroweeds.org/network 

Weeds identification system AFROweeds

http://www.afroweeds.org/idao

Directly by clicking on the identikit, the user can choose the characters he wants to describe such as « leaf type, habit, phylotaxy… » and for each character the modality corresponding to the species he has to identify

Example of a species information HTML page

Identification and information or field