sustainability Article Constraints to Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) Production and Farmers’ Approaches to Striga hermonthica Management in Burkina Faso Armel Rouamba 1,2 , Hussein Shimelis 1 , Inoussa Drabo 2, Mark Laing 1 , Prakash Gangashetty 3 , Isack Mathew 1 , Emmanuel Mrema 4 and Admire Isaac Tichafa Shayanowako 1,* 1 African Centre for Crop Improvement, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa;
[email protected] (A.R.);
[email protected] (H.S.);
[email protected] (M.L.);
[email protected] (I.M.) 2 Institute of Environmental and Agriculture Research, Ouagadougou 01 BP 476, Burkina Faso;
[email protected] 3 International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad 502 324, India;
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[email protected] Abstract: Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a staple food crop in Burkina Faso that is widely grown in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones, characterised by poor soil conditions and erratic rainfall, and high temperatures. The objective of this study was to document farmers’ perceptions of Citation: Rouamba, A.; Shimelis, H.; the prevailing constraints affecting pearl millet production and related approaches to manage the Drabo, I.; Laing, M.; Gangashetty, P.; parasitic weeds S. hermonthica. The study was conducted in the Sahel, Sudano-Sahelian zones in the Mathew, I.; Mrema, E.; Shayanowako, North, North Central, West Central, Central Plateau, and South Central of Burkina Faso. Data were A.I.T. Constraints to Pearl Millet collected through a structured questionnaire and focus group discussions involving 492 participant (Pennisetum glaucum) Production and farmers.