Parthenium hystrophorus, a poisonous and allergic weed, has invaded large tracts of land on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, posing a threat to humans and livestock.
A plant of the American tropics, it is found to cause several diseases such as eczema, asthma and dermatitis.
The large tracts invaded by the weed are in Cumbammettu, Karunapuram, Koottar, Manthipara, Thookkupalam, Ramakkalmedu, Mundiyeruma, Nedumkandam and Kallar, which are close to the Tamil Nadu border. The local people believe that the plant infested the areas through cow dung and cattle grass brought from Tamil Nadu.
It is estimated that parthenium, which reached the country through seeds imported from the U.S., has already spread over 35 million hectares of land in India. It is also known as ‘congress grass' or ‘carrot grass' in local parlance. It is an aggressive weed whose pollens float in the air, causing health risk.
“This invasive weed has spread over agriculture farms affecting crop production,” said an official of Karunapuram grama panchayat, which has launched a plan to control infestation of the weed, with public participation. The only method to control its spread is by uprooting it as cutting or slashing enhances its regeneration.
Karunapuram panchayat vice-president George Kuttivayalil says there should be a concerted approach to stop the spread of the weed. “It survives in all climatic conditions, thus posing a threat to low range areas also. Effective control should be done before the flowering season and the grama panchayat has launched a week-long programme to uproot the weed from public places. The weed has spread on roadsides. It can be checked only through public participation, said the official.
Though people are aware of the hazardous weed, there is no effective large-scale control possible except manually uprooting it. In the first phase of the project, the
panchayat launched an awareness campaign by issuing leaflets and posters within the panchayat. However, in other areas, no effective campaign against the threat raised by the weed was undertaken and it is feared that the weed might spread to neighbouring areas.
A plant of the American tropics, it is found to cause several diseases such as eczema, asthma and dermatitis.
The large tracts invaded by the weed are in Cumbammettu, Karunapuram, Koottar, Manthipara, Thookkupalam, Ramakkalmedu, Mundiyeruma, Nedumkandam and Kallar, which are close to the Tamil Nadu border. The local people believe that the plant infested the areas through cow dung and cattle grass brought from Tamil Nadu.
It is estimated that parthenium, which reached the country through seeds imported from the U.S., has already spread over 35 million hectares of land in India. It is also known as ‘congress grass' or ‘carrot grass' in local parlance. It is an aggressive weed whose pollens float in the air, causing health risk.
“This invasive weed has spread over agriculture farms affecting crop production,” said an official of Karunapuram grama panchayat, which has launched a plan to control infestation of the weed, with public participation. The only method to control its spread is by uprooting it as cutting or slashing enhances its regeneration.
Karunapuram panchayat vice-president George Kuttivayalil says there should be a concerted approach to stop the spread of the weed. “It survives in all climatic conditions, thus posing a threat to low range areas also. Effective control should be done before the flowering season and the grama panchayat has launched a week-long programme to uproot the weed from public places. The weed has spread on roadsides. It can be checked only through public participation, said the official.
Though people are aware of the hazardous weed, there is no effective large-scale control possible except manually uprooting it. In the first phase of the project, the
panchayat launched an awareness campaign by issuing leaflets and posters within the panchayat. However, in other areas, no effective campaign against the threat raised by the weed was undertaken and it is feared that the weed might spread to neighbouring areas.
Source The Hindu August 17, 2011
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