Updated Mar 29, 2021
Saving labor at the village level via biological weed control
https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grant/saving-labor-village-level-biological-weed-control
Claire Baker
Send MessageMontana State University will work with Kenyan farmers to evaluate the performance of a biological control method for eliminating the parasitic weed Striga.
How does your innovation work?
Striga is a problem in 43 African countries, and manual weeding is highly time- and labor-intensive. They have previously developed a virulent fungal strain to inhibit weed growth, and shown that it can ...
SEE ALLHow does your innovation work?
Striga is a problem in 43 African countries, and manual weeding is highly time- and labor-intensive. They have previously developed a virulent fungal strain to inhibit weed growth, and shown that it can ...
Stage 4: Transition to Scale
Proof of Concept: Gates Grand Challenges Exploration: Labor Saving Strategies and Innovations for Women Smallholder Farmers (Round 11)
David Sands of Montana State University in the U.S. will work with Kenyan women farmers to evaluate the performance of a biological control method for eliminating the parasitic weed Striga (witchweed), which can cause up to 80% loss of maize, millet, and sorghum yield in smallholder African farms.
See published results in attached Frontiers paper Nzioki et. al.
From this proof-of-concept, we created The Toothpick Project. See: https://www.globalinnovationexchange.org/innovation/toothpick-project
Registered in Kenya as For-Profitin Kenya as For-Profit
Focus Areas:
Agriculture and Cultivation & Tools
Implemented In:
United States
1
Country Implemented In
500
Customers
4
Employees
$100,000
Funds Raised to Date
Planned Goals and Milestones
Sands will expand this testing phase to women maize farmers in 50 villages and evaluate crop yield, weed reduction, and farmer satisfaction over 12 months.
Milestone
Oct 2013
Funds RaisedVERIFIED
$100,000
Date Unknown
Created
Date Unknown
New Country Implemented In
United States