IDENTIFICATION OF WEEDS IN THE PRODUCTION IN YAM PLANTATIONS (Dioscorea alata L.)

Abstract

Weeds represent a significant threat to agricultural production systems and the importance of their control, based on the level of economic damage is strongly supported in agriculture worldwide. The objective was the recognition of the weeds associated with the cultivation of yam that is a fundamental factor for the analysis of agroeconomic thresholds, and as the first strategy of integrated management of the crop. Agroecological scope: lands belonging to the dry tropical forest of the Pacific coast of the Isthmus, with an isotropic to isothermal temperature regime. The collection and georeferencing of weeds was carried out in the districts of Atalaya (Veraguas), Las Minas, Pesé and Ocú (Herrera) between 80 and 184 masl, in the years 2016 and 2018, in the dry season (January to March) and rainy season (June to December). In each plot, a zig zag trek was carried out and invasive weed samples were collected; 86 species belonging to 28 botanical families were identified. We identified 69 species of dicotyledonous weeds, representing 80%, grouped into 25 families and the remaining 17 species belonging to monocotyledonous represented 20%. The remaining 17 species belonging to the monocotyledons represented 20. Of the total saplings sampled, 35% corresponds to the families Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae (10 species each); 8% Asteraceae, (7 species); 17% Convolvulaceae Cyperaceae and Malvaceae (5 species each); 5% Rubiaceae (4 species); 7% Solanaceae and Verbenaceae (3 species each); 14% Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Boraginaceae, Commelinaceae, Menthaceae, and Sterculiaceae (2 species each) and the remaining 14% is distributed homogeneously among the families: Apocynaceae, Bignoniaceae, Capparidaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Loganiaceae, Onagraceae, Plantaginaceae, Portulacaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Tiliaceae, Violaceae. Zygophyllaceae, corresponding to one species of each family. The most important families are the Cyperaceae, Convolvulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Poaceae and Rubiaceae.