[2] In sub-Saharan Africa, apart from sorghum and rice, it also infests maize (Zea mays), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum).

[3] Striga hermonthica has undergone horizontal gene transfer from Sorghum to its nuclear genome.

[2] Purple witchweed infects a variety of grasses and legumes in sub-saharan Africa, including rice, maize, millet, sugarcane, and cowpea.

[4] Seeds of witchweed overwinter in the soil after they are dispersed by wind, water, animals, or human machinery.

Fusarium oxysporum may be used as a possible biocontrol of witchweed and its host specificity makes it a good candidate.

However, using strains selected for their ability to over-produce specific amino acids[11][12] has shown highly effective results.

[13] This technology development is called The Toothpick Project[14] based on mechanism used to deliver the fungal strains to smallholder farmers via a toothpick, where the farmer can make a fresh, on-farm inoculum by growing the fungal strains on cooked rice.

The project is being launched in Kenya and a team of scientists in eleven other countries is working on isolating local strains for development.

Another potential solution to purple witchweed for millet and sorghum crops is herbicide priming.

[18] Allelochemicals released by roots of Desmodium lead to "suicidal germination" of Striga, thus reducing the seed bank in the soil.