The annual cost of manually removing water hyacinth in China reaches as high as 100 million yuan

Wang Yanliang, deputy director of the Department of Science and Technology Education of the Ministry of Agriculture and director of the General Station of Agricultural Ecology and Resource Protection, pointed out in his speech that invasive alien species are showing a trend of rapid growth in China, with nearly 50 new invasive species added in the past 10 years, and more than 20 dangerous invasive species have successively broken out and caused disasters over large areas in China, posing a huge threat to China's biodiversity, agricultural and livestock production, and public health. Preventing and controlling invasive alien species and safeguarding agricultural production and ecological security are concrete practices for advancing agricultural ecological civilization and building a “Beautiful China.” Agricultural environmental protection departments must earnestly shoulder the responsibility as the competent authorities for invasive alien species management, truly focus on fulfilling their functions, seek breakthroughs through pioneering and innovation, and effectively promote the prevention and control of invasive alien species, so that our green homeland will be free from the threat of biological invasions and our beautiful countryside will be healthier and more harmonious.

The reporter saw at the scene that the entire river channel had become a paradise for water hyacinth, causing deterioration of aquatic plant habitats, swampification and eutrophication of water bodies, and bringing serious harm to crop farming, aquaculture, tourism, transportation, shipping, flood control and drainage, and the ecological environment.

⟦NL> Dr. Zhang Guoliang of the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in an interview that water hyacinth is a floating aquatic plant that mainly reproduces asexually; the number of plants can double within 6—18 days, and seeds can germinate and grow within a few days or remain dormant for 15—20 years while still retaining viability. Water hyacinth occurring in dense mats has already caused ecological disasters in many areas of China, and the annual cost of manual removal reaches 100 million yuan, while chemical control costs also amount to tens of millions of yuan.

Zhang Guoliang told reporters that because the occurrence of water hyacinth in each province of China has its own characteristics, different management countermeasures must be adopted. For places where water hyacinth covers large areas of water surface, releasing large numbers of the natural enemy insect——the water hyacinth weevil will achieve long-term control effects; for river channels, ponds and other places where the infested area is small but urgent removal is needed, using efficient, low-toxicity, low-residue chemical herbicides or manual and mechanical removal will quickly clear the water hyacinth. Overall, comprehensively adopting biological and chemical measures will achieve rapid and sustained control effects. Because large-scale outbreaks of water hyacinth are often closely related to water environmental pollution, to fundamentally eliminate water hyacinth, efforts to comprehensively improve the environment of lakes and rivers should be increased.