The parasitic weed Striga (witchweed) is the scourge of agriculture in much of Africa, parts of Asia, and even in the United States. Striga attacks the major cereal grains and legumes in sub-Saharan Africa, on average halving the already very low yields of subsistence farmers. The Striga problem has been a major reason why crop productivity has remained at or below subsistence, leaving poor farmers with no way out of a situation that is only getting worse.

For many decades, research approaches on Striga targeted eradication, suppression, or breeding for host crops that support fewer emerged Striga plants. Decades of such efforts have led to few successes. More recently, basic research efforts that have focused on the more fundamental biology of the parasite and its association with its hosts have led to a far better understanding of the enemy. That understanding, in turn, led to series of successes in the field that are being expanded slowly throughout Africa.

Will these technologies be sustainable or will they fail?  Highly successful weeds such as Striga have a tendency to evolve resistance to all types of control.  Ways to circumvent these pitfalls need to be crafted. As no single method is likely to be perfect, it is clear that proven methods must be integrated with each other.  However, integration is often an anathema to basic scientists who are taught to alter single variables at a time in their experiments.  That is why we are bringing together key leaders in development of the new knowledge based control strategies—both those that have been successfully deployed in the field and those currently under development that show great promise.  Bringing these experts together will allow discussion of strategies that can be integrated with each other to develop more durable and sustainable methods that will be useful for decades to come.

For major speakers, we have invited leaders in the field who have been supplying the basic biology, genetics, biochemistry, and molecular information that have offered insights and generated technologies for dealing with Striga. Other scientists (molecular biologists, breeders, agronomists, and social scientists) who have been key in the fight against Striga are also invited to engage in structured panel discussions. Together with facilitators who are experts at stimulating people to integrate knowledge into practice, we hope this meeting will provide the forum for crafting new and creative suggestions for a series of integrated management packages that can render effective control of Striga.