Comprehensive Analysis of Buffalobur (Solanum rostratum): An Invasive Toxic Weed in the Northern Agro-Pastoral Ecotone

This website reports  Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture organized over 140 participants, including agricultural resource and environmental protection technical personnel from 17 provinces and municipalities (regions) across the country, experts from relevant scientific research and teaching institutions, and media representatives, to conduct an on-site observation of the buffalobur (Solanum rostratum) integrated prevention and control demonstration area located deep in the Horqin Grassland of Baicheng City, Jilin Province. Researcher Zhang Guoliang from the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, on behalf of the project team, systematically introduced the background of the demonstration area's establishment, the scientific research progress achieved, and the technology promotion situation.

It is reported that buffalobur (Solanum rostratum) is an invasive malignant toxic weed originating from North America. Since 2009, buffalobur has spread rapidly in the northern agro-pastoral ecotone of China, causing damage in 112 counties (cities, banners) across Liaoning, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other provinces (municipalities, regions), with the severely affected area reaching 4.8 million mu, posing a serious threat to local agro-pastoral production and ecological security.

With the support of national public welfare industry scientific research projects, led by the Degraded Environment Ecological Restoration Innovation Team of the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, with the core members being the Farmland Weed Monitoring and Control Team of the Institute of Plant Protection and the Agricultural Biodiversity Utilization Innovation Team of the Institute of Environmental Protection, and jointly with the technical forces of more than 20 scientific research and extension departments including China Agricultural University, Shenyang Agricultural University, and local agricultural and environmental protection departments in Liaoning, Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Hebei, collaborative research was carried out targeting integrated prevention and control technology for buffalobur.

The project team conducted systematic research at different levels including individual, population, community and ecosystem. The research elucidated the invasion mechanism of buffalobur and the degradation mechanism of invaded ecosystems. Applying restoration ecology and plant community succession theories and methods, the research screened out 12 alternative plant combinations including alfalfa (Medicago sativa), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Leymus chinensis combinations, sand sainfoin (Astragalus adsurgens), wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) and Leymus chinensis combinations, wheatgrass, red fescue (Festuca rubra) and Leymus chinensis, as well as 7 chemical control technical methods including fluroxypyr and lactofen. A comprehensive prevention and control demonstration base was established in a typical buffalobur damage area of the Horqin Grassland. After more than 3 years of demonstration, the average soil seed bank quantity of buffalobur in the demonstration area was reduced to 100.5 seeds/sq m, a decrease of 99.10% compared with 11,133 seeds/sq m in the control area; the average population density of buffalobur in the demonstration area was reduced to 4.1 plants/sq m, a decrease of 95.59% compared with 93 plants/sq m in the control area; the average forage yield dry weight in the demonstration area reached 307 kg, and compared with 21.4 kg in the control area, an average of 285.6 kg of forage yield loss was recovered per mu, with direct economic benefits of approximately 427.5 yuan per mu.

Through technology integration, the project team constructed a replicable, promotable and sustainable integrated prevention and control technology model for buffalobur, and formed a series of integrated prevention and control technical plans and industry technical standards for buffalobur widely applicable to different habitats such as degraded grasslands, barren slopes, barren beaches, roads, ditches, farmlands and forest lands. Taking a point to drive broader application, it provided scientific basis for the design of typical prevention and control plans for the spread corridors and controlling nodes of buffalobur in Hebei, Shanxi and Beijing. The project research results were widely publicized through training, on-site observation, and programs such as CCTV's “Approaching Science” and China National Radio's Rural Lecture Hall, promoting the large-scale popularization and application of buffalobur prevention and control technology results.