Project

Promoting Root Microbes for Integrated Striga Eradication (PROMISE)

Striga is a root parasitic weed that adversely affects many cereal crops all over the Sub-Saharan region. The PROMISE project explores and harnesses the functional potential of soil- and plant-associated microbes (bacteria and fungi) with the aim to control Striga and to minimize yield losses caused by it in sorghum, millet and rice.

Background

Striga hermonthica has been reported in at least 32 sub-Saharan African countries, and S. asiatica in 42 (Rodenburg et al., 2016). These parasitic weeds infest 12-38% of the area under cereal production in that region. Striga causes
substantial yield losses, leading to field abandonment and food insecurity for
smallholder farmersā . For the three crops combined (sorghum, millet, rice), the estimated annual production losses amount to 6,213,000 tons of grain, worth $2.315 billion USD annually (Musselman & Rodenburg, 2023). Resource-poor farming communities are most affected by these parasitic weeds as they rely heavily on these crops for their livelihood.

Striga requires a timely and integrated management strategy. Targeting the Striga seed bank in the soil, preferably through multiple modes of action, is expected to result in the most effective and long-lasting control. However, because of the geography and farming systems where Striga is most problematic, technologies requiring high levels of external inputs, or high dependency on (local) markets, have a lower adoption rate. Therefore, the aim of this project is to find integrated solutions based on locally available resources.

References

Project description

The PROMISE project explores and aims to exploit the functional potential of soil- and plant-associated microbes (bacteria and fungi) as Striga control agents. The overall aim of the project is to reduce Striga infection and minimize cereal (i.e., sorghum, millet, rice) yield losses caused by it, through soil-microbiome solutions. One of the approaches studied at the Crop and Weed Ecology group of CSA-WUR entails the identification and exploitation of strigacidal (microbial) volatile organic compounds. In (ongoing) previous work in the PROMISE project, VOCs have been identified that either inhibit Striga seed germination or kill Striga seeds. Such strigacidal volatiles are di- or trisulfides produced by microbial (bacterial) decomposition of common sulfur-based amino-acids, such as methionine or cysteine. The proposed research project will investigate if and how this knowledge can be applied to an on-farm Striga management strategy.