Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd.

Code

DTTAE

Growth form

Grass

Biological cycle

Annual

Habitat

Terrestrial

Northern Cameroon: Dactyloctenium aegyptium germinates with the first rains of May, before the late plowing. This germination period lasts 4 to 5 weeks until late June. Cultural operations such as weeding and mounding result in new emergence although these are less abundant and does not last as long as the emergence at the beginning of the crop cycle. Flowering and fruiting are not subject to photoperiod and intervene rapidly, 3-4 weeks after emergence. This rapid development allows this species to produce seeds before the first weeding, especially if the latter is late. The seeds produced at this period of time are not dormant and germinate instantly. This species is usually dry out at the end of the rainy season (September-October) after a development cycle of 3 to 4 months.
Mayotte: Dactyloctenium aegyptium flowers and fruits all year round.

Dactyloctenium aegyptium is an annual species that multiplies mainly by seed, but can also propagate vegetatively by its creeping stems during the rainy season. An individual can produce up to 66,000 seeds.

It is a weed of both arable land and waste places near the sea and, in Malaysia, it is found in sandy soils of the lowlands and on sandy beaches at the sea. It prefers light, dry soils in Java and grows mainly on sandy areas in Sudan. Despite its preference for a habitat with light soils and low moisture, it has been reported to be an important weed in many countries in the humid tropics' (Holm et al., 1977).

Northern Cameroon: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is a heliophilous species that grows in Sahel-Sudanese regions where annual rainfall is between 600 and 800 mm, in the most humid Sudanese regions. It is a ruderal species, common on the roadside, in vacant lots and in fallow. This is also a very common and often abundant weed. It grows in most soils, especially in dry soils, sandy or stony and filtering, such as ferruginous soils on sandstone and ferruginous soils of dunes but also on alluvial loam soils and on fersialitic soils in dry areas. However, this species is rare on heavy clay soils like vertisols or on too humid soil such as planosols.
Comoros: ruderal species common in humid areas especially in heavy soils at low altitude. It is present in all parts of Grande Comore and Anjouan.
Madagascar: Species very common in sub-humid and semi-arid of the island (west and southwest) at low altitude: along roadsides, fallow and crop fields. It is a dominant species in sandy soils plots ("red sands").
Mauritius: Common weed, especially at low altitude, along roadsides, in vacant plot and occasionally in cultures.
Mayotte: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is a native species, common on the coast and xerophilous region, generally in degraded sites. It occursvin crops and sunny pastures.
Reunion: The species is common on loamy sands or on the heavier lands that drain well. It can form lawns of 70 cm high. It occurs mainly in sub-humid and moderately dry regions. In Reunion, it grows mostly on the northeast and southeast coast of the island, and in the western zone of average altitude (about 300 m). This plant does not exist at high altitude and humid region. It is also found in very dense populations on the coastal plains of the West and Southwest, in Savana and in Gol, with shallow water table.
Seychelles: This species is found only in coastal areas, particularly in Praslin. It prefers sandy open soils.
West Indies: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is an exotic species. It grows on most soils but is particularly fond of soils with little clay, sand and stones. It is therefore not uncommon for it to be abundant on the coast.

Local harmfulness
 
Benin: rare but abundant when present.
Burkina Faso: frequent and generally abundant.
Northern Cameroon: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is a regional potential weed present in 85% of cultivated plots in the Sudano-Sahelian region and 50% of the plots in the humid regions. It affects all cultures, whether it is transmitted traditionally with no-tillage or with superficial tillage or intensively with deep plowing and with high fertilizer inputs. The use of pre-emergence herbicides of cotton or of corn, limits its development. This species grows mainly at the beginning or in the mid of crop cycle. Indeed, at that time, it is present in over 70% of the cultivations and often abundantly while at end of cycle, it is present in only 45% of the plots and very rarely abundant. Also, early weeding is an effective control.
Comoros: A weed present in all cultures, and common in vegetable crops.
Ivory Coast: common and scarce.
Ghana: rare but abundant when present.
Kenya: frequent and generally abundant.
Mali: rare and scarce.
Madagascar: A weed of relatively low frequency but locally abundant in small plots of light fertile soil (waterlogged reddish sands, alluvial soils) and harmful to less intensified food crops maize, groundnuts and cassava.
Mauritius: occasional weed of sugar cane where its competition is very low, but can be moderate in some vegetable crops.
Nigeria: frequent and generally abundant.
Uganda: common and generally abundant.
Reunion: A less common weed, it appears in only 10% of cultivated plots of the island and is never abundant.
Seychelles: This species can be a serious weed of vegetable crops, tubers and ornamental.
West Indies: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is a weed present in all crops but is rarely abundant and does not constitute a major constraint. In favourable soil and climatic zones, its density sometimes increases at the end of the crop cycle.

Global control

For advice on weeding of annual grass of irrigated rice and of lowland in Africa, visit: http://portal.wiktrop.org/document/show/31
 
Local control
 
Madagascar: Dactyloctenium aegyptium is generally relatively less invasive in cultivated fields and can often be controlled by simply wedding or hoeing. In case it becomes abundant, it may be relatively well controlled chemically with oxadiazon diuron on pre-emergence.
 

Reunion Island:

Data acquired in Reunion on the effectiveness of herbicides in the context of the sugarcane herbicide network by eRcane Network with funding from the ODEADOM and ONEMA.
Action led by the French Ministry of Agriculture, food and forest, with financial support from the National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments, on the finance issued from the tax for the pollution diffused, attributed to the finance of the Ecophyto plan.

West Indies: Tillage operations and conventional weed control techniques are sufficient to control Dactyloctenium aegyptium.

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Dactyloctenium%2520aegyptium