Weed community of lowland rice system in northern Togo's Savannah region

International audience; Weeds are the major biotic constraint for lowland rice production systems in Togo, particularly in the Savannah region where rice cultivation follows traditional practices with very little mechanization or synthetic pesticide treatment. In order to identify and categorize weed flora of this agricultural system, vegetation surveys were conducted in Northern Togo’s lowlands during the growing seasons of 2012 and 2013. Full floristic surveys were conducted in 33 lowland sites, selected for their accessibility and importance in terms of rice production. A total of 97 weed species from 26 plant families were recorded in 2012 against 103 weed species in 28 families in 2013…