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Broomrape Weed (Orobanche spp.): An Emerging Threat of Tomato Production in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

Hailu Negesa

Broomrape weed is the most destructive parasitic weed in Ethiopia and Southern Tigray in particular. However, there was no profiled information about the weed in these areas. Therefore, the present observational study was conducted to roughly assess the distribution status of broomrape weed in southern Tigray. Results revealed that broomrape weed was prevalent up to 26.7%, 42.8% and 51.7% in 2017, 2018 and 2020 assessment years, respectively. Frequency of infested fields was higher in the Raya Azebo than in the Raya Alamata district across the years. Similarly, under peasant association level Kara Adisho and Warra Abbayye were highly severed by this weed. On the other hand, incidence of the weed had been not recorded in Limhat and Selam Bekalsi peasant associations across the years. In general, the study identified the importance of broomrape weed in southern Tigray. Meanwhile, future works should focus on the study of distribution, abundance and identification of the broomrape species prevailing in these areas. Besides, evaluation of integrated weed management options and awareness creation to stakeholders were mandatory to be done to tackle the bottleneck of tomato production in Southern Tigray.