Integrated control effect reaches 85% in alligator weed control demonstration zones
This website reports: On October 13, a national on-site eradication event for the invasive alien species alligator weed was held in Jiangyan District, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province.
Alligator weed is one of the world's ten most noxious weeds and one of the key invasive alien species under control in China. In response to its characteristics, agricultural resource and environmental protection departments and relevant research institutions have organized research into a variety of control methods. After long-term exploration, the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences has initially established a synergistic weed control technology system combining Alternaria fungi and herbicides, and set up alligator weed control demonstration zones in Jiangyan District and Xinghua City, where the integrated control effect reached above 85%, reducing herbicide use by 20-30% and saving 20% in costs. The Jiangsu Agricultural Environmental Protection Station used a biological natural enemy——the alligator weed flea beetle, a natural enemy that feeds exclusively on alligator weed——to carry out control, achieving a control effect of up to 80% in the same year, with stable control effects achievable in 2-3 years.
At this event, integrated control technologies and biological control methods were demonstrated on site, using small plant protection aircraft to spray specialized chemical agents on areas where alligator weed had spread severely. At the same time, high-horsepower mechanical harvesting boats were used to harvest densely distributed areas, achieving full automation of gathering, harvesting, water filtering and unloading, with simple operation and work efficiency more than 10 times that of manual work. The alligator weed harvested onto shore was composted on site through biological fermentation, thoroughly achieving harmless treatment.
Nearly 200 managers and technicians from agricultural environmental protection departments in areas seriously affected by alligator weed, along with experts from agricultural research institutions and universities, observed the eradication event.
