Echinochloa colonaLatin nameEchinochloa colona (L.) Link FamilyPoaceae Common nameJungle rice, awnless barnyard grass SynonymsEchinochloa colonum (L.) Link, E. crus-galli subsp. colona (L.) Honda, Panicum colonum L. (basionym), P. cumingianum Steud., P. zonale Guss., Milium colonum (L.) Moench, Oplismenus colonus (L.) Kunth Geographical distributionAsia: China and Japan. South and Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Rest of the world: Australia, Bolivia, Botswana, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Venezuela, West Africa, and Zambia. MorphologyA tufted annual grass, up to 60 cm tall. Stem: reddish purple or green, ascending to erect, without hairs. Leaf: linear, 10−15 cm long, basal portion often tinged with red; ligule absent. Inflorescence: simple, ascending racemes, green to purple, about 5−15 cm long; spikelets subsessile 1−3 mm long. Biology and ecologyEchinochloa colona flowers throughout the year and is propagated by seeds. Seeds have a short dormancy period. It can be present in large numbers and responsive to nutrients. Prefers moist but unflooded conditions and is a problem mainly in upland and rainfed lowland rice fields rather than in flooded fields. Agricultural importanceIt closely "mimics" rice in the vegetative growth stage and is a severe competitor of rice. It is a host of diseases such as tungro and rice yellow dwarf. It can be used as a palatable fodder for milking animals and water buffalo. ManagementCultural control: flooding; hand weeding or use of a hoe during early growth stages. Chemical control: preemergence application of oxadiazon or pendimethalin or postemergence application of cyhalofop, butachlor, and fenoxaprop can be effective. Selected references
JLA Catindig, RT Lubigan, and D Johnson |