NSP - Echinochloa colona
 

ECHINOCHLOA COLONA (L.) Link

 

 

 

Family: Poaceae

Common names: Jungle rice, Junglegrass, Swampgrass, arrocillo (S), zacate de agua (S), metebravo (S), blé du Dekkan (F) Echinochloa colona (L.) Link. is a smooth, tufted annual 30 75 cm high, usually decumbent and rooting at the lower nodes, green to purple with an inflorescence of short spikes in an alternate arrangement on the main axis. The stem is flattened, often red purple at the base, usually swollen at the nodes. Leaf sheath is smooth, margins free in upper part and basal portion of sheath is often tinged with red. Leaf blade is smooth, flat, linear lanceolate, flaccid, up to 25 cm long, 3 7 mm wide, sometimes transverse purple bands. The inflorescence of E. colona is green to purple, ascending panicle, 6 12 cm long with 4 8 simple, short, compact branches 1 3 cm long, 3 4 mm wide, ascending or appressed about half their own length apart. Spikelets are ovate to broad ovate, acute, 2-3 mm long and crowded into 4 rows along one side of the branch, nearly sessile. Fruit, a caryopsis about 1.3- 2 mm long.

E. colona normally grows under dryland conditions ; does not thrive in continuously flooded soils. Like Echinochloa crus-galli, young plants resemble rice, which makes hand weeding difficult early.

This weed is propagated by seed. In the tropics, seed has little or no dormancy and germinates throughout the year when moisture is available The weed is not easy to be controlled in rice areas. The most common and selective method of control has been the use of herbicides, such as propanil, thiobencarb and butachlor in early post-emergence treatments.

Repeated use of post-emergence propanil has brought about the resistance of the weed to this herbicide in various countries of Latin America, e.g. Costa Rica (1987) and Colombia (1988. In 1994 resistant biotypes to fenoxaprop were also found in rice in Costa Rica (1994).

E. colona is found in rice areas as well as in many annual crops, such as vegetables, maize, sorghum and legumes. It is a common weed of upland rice.

Countries: Bangladesh, Belize, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo (Democratic), Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam

 

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