2025/09/16 by Gebrehiwot, Haftamu Gebretsadik, Gebretsadik, Fisha Berhe, Araya, Alemu
#Sugarcane #Sugarcane varieties #Weed importance #Weed species composition #Wolkait Sugar Factory
paper · doi:10.71624/wd5z1228
Multiple weed species affect sugarcane plant as it stays in the field for several months. The low competitive ability of some sugarcane varieties has been recognized as one of the major reasons of low productivity. An experiment had been conducted to assess the most important weed species under the fields of sugarcane varieties suitable for large-scale production in the factory. Six fields with plant cane of six sugarcane varieties (B52/298, NCO334, CO680, CO678, Mex54/245 and NCO310) had been assessed for the variation in weed species composition, prevalence and dominance. Samples had been taken from each field in a zig-zag fashion using simple random sampling method. A total of 100 samples were taken independently and randomly from each field. Weed species composition was analysed by frequency (prevalence), abundance, dominance, and similarity index. Fourteen weed species had been identified in the six fields of Wolkait Sugar Factory which belong to 11 families. The highest number of weed species were from families Asteraceae (3 species) and Orobanchaceae (2 species). The other families contain only one species. Out of the identified weed species, nine were more prevalent in at least four fields. Based on the dominance analysis, the weed species Corchorus trilocularis, Celeomon monophyla, Spilanthes mauritiana, Eriocloa fatmensis, Digitaria ternate, Orobanche ramosa L and Anthemis tigreenesis are the most dominant in almost all sugarcane fields of Wolkait Sugar Factory. The similarity index (i.e. 93%) indicated that almost all weed species except Oxalis latifolia were found in all fields of the sugarcane varieties assessed.