Market Availability of Selective Post-emergence Herbicides for Major Food Crops in the Haut-Sassandra Region, Central-western Côte d'Ivoire

Weed control in crops is increasingly done by the chemical method in the Haut-Sassandra region. However, farmers in this region often struggle to obtain selective post-emergence herbicides for certain food crops. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess the availability of selective post-emergence herbicides of the main food crops of this region markets with a view to providing necessary information to effective weed management and ensure food security. In this context, a survey was conducted among 104 managers of phytosanitary product stores in the region. At the end of the investigations, 41, 34, 2, 5 and 4 trade names of selective post-emergence herbicides of rice, maize, cassava, yam and plantain were observed, respectively. The relative frequencies of these main food crops selective post-emergene were 92,00 %, 92,00 %, 5,00 %, 3,75 % and 1,75 %, respectively, on the regional market. They were divided into 9, 3, 2, 3 and 2 active ingredients, respectively. Selective post-emergence herbicides for rice and maize have been observed on the markets of the four departments of the region and the selective cassava herbicides in Daloa only. As for the selective post-mergence herbicides of yam and plantain, they were noted in Vavoua and Daloa. To effectively manage weeds in their crops, yam, cassava and plantain producers in the departments of Issia and Zoukougbeu and cassava growers in Vavoua can stock up on selective post-emergence herbicides in Daloa. They can also use selective pre-emergence herbicides for their crops or adopt stale seed bed.