Floristic and ethnobotanical study of useful plants in Basse Casamance (Senegal): Mlomp municipality case

Une étude floristique et ethnobotanique des plantes utilisées au sud du Sénégal a été réalisée en 2017 dans la commune de Mlomp. Cette étude a pour but d’établir la liste des plantes cultivées et forestières utilisées par les populations locales de la commune et de réunir les informations relatives aux types morphologiques, aux parties utilisées, ainsi que les usages qui en sont faits. Des enquêtes ethnobotaniques ont été réalisées auprès des populations à l’aide d’un guide d’entretien. Cette étude a permis de répertorier 98 espèces de plantes utilisées réunies dans 81 genres et 37 familles. Les Fabaceae, les Annonaceae, les Apocynaceae et les Malvaceae sont les familles les plus fréquentes. Il ressort également de ces résultats que 12 espèces sont les plus citées parmi lesquelles trois (Elaeis guineensis, Mangifera indica et Oryza spp.) présentent des fréquences de citation de 100%. Les arbres, les arbustes et les herbes constituent les types morphologiques les plus importants des espèces listées. Les fruits sont les parties les plus utilisées suivies des feuilles. Concernant les utilisations des plantes, l’alimentation humaine occupe la première place suivie des usages en médecines traditionnelles et en bois d’énergie. Mots clés: Étude floristique, ethnobotanique, plantes utilisées, Basse Casamance, commune de MlompA floristic and ethnobotanical study of useful plants was conducted in southern Senegal in the municipality of Mlomp in 2017. The aim of this study was to establish the list of cultivated and forest plants useful for the local communities and report their morphological types, the parts used and also their different uses. The ethnobotanical surveys were carried out with local communities. This study revealed 98 species of useful plants grouped in 81 genera belonging to 37 families. The Fabaceae followed by Annonaceae, Apocynaceae and Malvaceae are the most common families in Mlomp. Twelve species are most frequently cited of which 3 recorded 100% citation frequencies (Elaeis guineensis, Mangifera indica and Oryza spp.). Trees, herbs and shrubs are the most important morphological type for all listed species. The fruits are the most used parts followed by leaves and most plants are mainly used in human nutrition, followed by traditional medicine and finally as energy wood. Keywords: Floristic study, ethnobotanical, useful plants, Basse Casamance, municipality of Mlom

Structure et caractéristiques de la flore adventice de la ferme agricole de l’Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis (Sénégal)

This present study was conducted to determine the structure and characteristics of the adventitious flora of the agricultural farm of Gaston Berger University (UGB) located in Saint Louis, Senegal. A species inventory was carried out using the "tour de champ" technique which consists of going through a plot in different directions and recording all the species present in the studied area. The inventoried flora is composed of 149 species distributed among 90 genera belonging to 30 families which are dominated by the Poaceae (18.8%) and the Fabaceae (15.4%). This flora is also characterized by the predominance of the therophytes and the chamephytes which represent 79.9% and 10.7% of recorded species, respectively. From a chorologic standpoint, pantropical (29.5%) and African (28.2%) species account for more than half of the species (57.7%). The quantitative analysis of this flora reveals that rare or accidental species are more represented (52%) followed by frequent species (16%) and secondary species (15%)

Intercropping millet with low-density cowpea improves millet productivity for low and medium N input in semi-arid central Senegal

Cereal-legume intercropping has been traditionally practiced across West Africa by farmers and provides resilience of agriculture to climate variability. Intensification of these extensive intercropping systems in order to meet future food demand is critical. This study aims at evaluating the agronomic performance of the intensification of millet-cowpea intercropping with low cowpea density, and its variation with climate variability, using an on-station experiment in Bambey, Senegal. Two trials (irrigated vs rainfed) were set up to compare millet sole- and inter-cropping with a grain and a fodder variety of cowpea, in 2018 and 2019. Two levels of fertilization were tested: 0 kg(N) ha−1 and 69 kg(N) ha−1. The two cropping years were contrasting and water stress around flowering and/or during grain filling (indicated by the Fraction of Transpirable Soil Water) was higher in 2019 than in 2018 in the rainfed experiment. In both experiment and for all treatments, land equivalent ratio (LER) in the intercropping was 1.6 and 1.4 for grain and biomass respectively. Millet aboveground biomass was significantly higher in intercropping than in sole cropping in the irrigated experiment but not in the rainfed experiment. In the rainfed experiment, the interaction between cropping system and year was significant, so that millet aboveground biomass was greater in intercropping than in sole cropping in 2018 (year of lower water stress) but not in 2019 (year of higher water stress). The effect of fertilization on millet aboveground biomass did not significantly interact with cropping system (sole vs intercrop). For grain yield, fertilization interacted significantly with the cropping system in the irrigated trial: the benefits of intercropping on millet grain yield were greater with 69 kg(N) ha−1 than with 0 kg(N) ha−1. This significant interaction could not be observed in the rainfed trial, potentially due to water stress. These results show that the level of water stress (related here to the year and to the rainfed or irrigated experiment) and that of fertilization modulate the performance of millet-cowpea intercropping in the semi-arid context of Senegal. Overall, fertilization had a stronger effect on millet grain yield than intercropping. The two strategies (intercropping and mineral fertilization) can be complementary to achieve sustainable intensification of cropping system in semi-arid areas of West Africa

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Improve Growth and Phosphate Nutrition of <i>Acacia seyal</i> (Delile) under Saline Conditions

Many plant species adapted to semi-arid environments are grown in the Sahelian region in northern Africa. One such species is Acacia seyal (Delile), a multipurpose leguminous tree grown in various agroecological zones, including saline soils. These challenging arid and semi-arid environments harbor a diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities that can develop symbiotic associations with plants to improve their hydromineral nutrition. This study compared the effects of native AMF communities isolated from semi-arid sites (high, moderate, and low salinity zones Ndiafate, Ngane, and Bambey, respectively) and the AMF Rhizoglomus aggregatum on the development and phosphate nutrition of A. seyal seedlings subject to three salinity treatments (0, 340, and 680 mM). Plant height, dry matter weight of the shoots and roots, and phosphorus uptake from the soil were measured. Plants inoculated with AMF native species from each site that were provided with up to 340 mM of NaCl had greater shoot height than plants grown under 680 mM salinity. At NaCl concentrations above 340 mM, shoot and root development of A. seyal seedlings diminished. However, dry matter production of shoots (7%) and roots (15%) improved following AMF inoculation compared with the control (respectively 0.020 and 0.07 g for shoots and roots). When inoculated with AMF isolates from the high salinity zone (Ndiafate), phosphate content/nutrition was increased by 10% around 30 days after inoculation compared with non-inoculated seedlings (2.84 mg/kg of substrate). These results demonstrate that native AMF inoculants are capable of helping plants withstand environmental constraints, especially those exposing plants to harsh climatic conditions. We discuss insights on how AMF influences the interplay between soil phosphorus and perceived salinity that may have implications for broader relationships between plants and symbiotic fungi