Transcript Baseline Condition of Parthenium Weed before the Release

Baseline Condition of Parthenium Weed at
the Release sites of Biocontrol Agent/s in
Wollenchiti Area of Boset District, Central
Ethiopia
Lisanework Nigatu and Tamado Tana
Haramaya University, P.O.Box 138, Dire Dawa,
Ethiopia
International Workshop on Parthenium Weed
July 14-16, 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Background
• Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPS) are one of the
major threats to the ecological and economical
wellbeing of Ethiopia.
• Among the different IAPS, parthenium weed is
considered to be one of the worst invasive plants
in Australia, Asia and Africa
• In Ethiopia, parthenium was first reported from
eastern Ethiopia in the 1970s and then rapidly
spread to other parts of the country
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Background……..
• It has caused adverse effects on crops, on human
health, on livestock health and their products, on
the natural ecosystem and livelihood of people.
• The obnoxious characteristics of parthenium
weed can be attributed to its high seed
production and effective dissemination ability, its
inherent allelopathic effects on other plants, its
higher phenotypic plasticity, and its ability to
withstand a wide range of environmental
conditions.
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Background……..
• In management of parthenium, mechanical and
manual methods where the plants are uprooted to
prevent regeneration before flowering and when the
soil is moist enough to facilitate easy removal is
practiced in parts of Africa.
• The use of competitive plants to suppress the growth
of parthenium has also been suggested
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Background……..
• Biological control using pathogens such as the rust
fungus and insects is suggested to be the most costeffective, environmentally safe and ecologically
viable method available.
• Parthenium is ideal for biological control because it
can continuously support biological agents because
of its ability to have 4 to 7 generations per season,
forms pure stands over a large area, and has many
natural enemies at its center of origin
• Australia and India have proved that biological
control of parthenium is possible and effective.
Similar work has started in South Africa to control
parthenium using insects.
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Background……..
• In an attempt to control the weed, biological control
agent Zygogramma bicolorata was introduced from
south Africa following the standard quarantine
procedure and has been evaluated under Ethiopian
condition for its adaptability and host specificity at
Ambo and Wolenchiti.
• After passing all the necessary steps, permit was
obtained from concerning government offices for its
release around Wolenchiti in central Ethiopia.
• Thus, it is imperative to know the baseline
information on parthenium weed infestation and its
effect on the livelihood of the farmers in the release
sites to assess the impact of bio-control agent in the
future.
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Background……..
Thus, the objectives of the study were:
• to assess the current above ground and soil seed
bank species composition of sites invaded with
parthenium weed; and
• to assess the current impact of parthenium weed on
the livelihood of the farmers in the release sites of
the biocontrol agent
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Methodology
• The study area is located around Wollenchiti town,
150 km south east of Addis Ababa, in the central Rift
valley in Boset district of East Shoa Zone of Oromiya
Regional State, Ethiopia
• The study sites fall within 1500-1600 m altitude,
receive mean annual rainfall ranging between 700900 mm with mean minimum and maximum
temperatures of 18oC and 34oC, respectively.
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Methodology ….
• Assessment of the Above-ground Plant
Community
– The above-ground herbaceous plant community was
sampled from three sites using five 1m x 1m quadrats
at each site.
– Within each of these quadrats, the plant species were
identified and their density was determined by
counting the number of individuals of those species
present.
– Moreover, their abundance was estimated by a cover
percent, which involved a visual estimate of the
proportion of the quadrat occupied by these species.
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Methodology ….
• Assessment of the Below-ground Plant
Community
– To assess the soil seed bank, from each of the three
sites, five soil samples to a depth of 10 cm were
collected at random from two opposite corners within
each quadrat and mixed together to form a sample.
– The soil samples were taken to the glasshouse and
were spread thinly over a sterilized soil mixture in
plastic pot
– Two control pots, consisting of just the sterilized soil
mixture, were placed among the experimental pots to
monitor for any seedlings that may have arisen from
this mixture contaminated them from the glasshouse
environment.
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Methodology ….
• Assessment of the Below-ground Plant
Community
– The soil within the pots was watered to maintain its
moisture level close to field capacity.
– Pots were assessed weekly for three months for any
newly emerging seedlings.
– Once they emerged, seedlings were identified and
counted and then removed and discarded. In the case
where immediate identification was not possible,
representative individuals were planted into small
pots and grown to maturity, to allow for later
taxonomic identification. The counted species were
expressed in per m2 basis.
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Methodology ….
• Assessment of Socio-economic Impact of
Parthenium weed
– The study was conducted at three release sites, i.e.
Borcheta, Tedecha and Tribret around Wollenchiti
town
– At each site representative farmers were selected and
interviewed using structured questionnaire.
– Major data collected include awareness about
parthenium, means of its introduction, status of its
infestation, its effects on crops, native species, human
and animal health and produce and control method
used.
– The responses of the framers were summarized using
percentages
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RESULTS
• The Above-ground Species Abundance
– The highest cover percentage (68.8%), density
(465 plants m-2) and plant height (30.4 cm) of
parthenium weed at Borcheta site followed by
Tedecha site. On the other hand, plots at Boset
Secondary School had the lowest parthenium
weed cover percentage, density and height.
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Sites
% cover of
% cover of Density of Height of
Number of
parthenium
other
partheniu
partheniu
other
species
m per m2
m (cm)
species
Borcheta
68.8
21.2
465
30.4
5.2
Tedecha
55.4
40.5
330
25.3
5.6
Boset
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72.8
14
11
5
Secondary
School
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RESULTS….
• The Soil Seed bank Composition and Size
– From the soil seed bank study, a total of 24 species
belonging to 14 plant families were recorded. The most
frequent families based on the number of species were
Poaceae (7) and Asteraceae (4).
– Annuals were more common (20 taxa) than perennials (4
taxa)
– The highest density of parthenium (2065.6 plants m-2) was
recorded in the soil seed bank at Borcheta
– Unlike on the aboveground vegetation, the density of
parthenium in the soil seed bank was high at Boset
Secondary School indicating the high persistence of
parthenium weed seeds in the soil.
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Species
Family
Species
Family
Achyranthes aspera
Amaranthaceae
Lactuca sativa
Asteraceae
Amaranthus dubius
Amaranthaceae
Leucas martinicesis
Lamiaceae
Anagallis arvensis
Primulaceae
Nicandra physalodes
Solanaceae
Anethum foeniculum
Apiaceae
Parthenium hysterophorus
Asteraceae
Argemone ochroleuca Papaveraceae
Plantago lancolata
Brassica carinata
Brassicaceae
Setaria pumila
Plantaginacea
e
Poaceae
Cenchrus ciliaris
Poaceae
Setaria verticillata
Poaceae
Cyperus rotundus
Cyperaceae
Sonchus oleraceus
Asteraceae
Digitaria abyssinica
Poaceae
Sorghum verticilliforum
Poaceae
Eragrostis papposa
Poaceae
Tribulus terrestris
Eriochloa nubica
Poaceae
Verbesina encelioides
Zygophyllace
ae
Asteraceae
Euphorbia hirta
Euphorbiaceae
Vicia sativa
Fabaceae
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Density (plants m-2)
2500
Grasses
2000
Other species
1500
Parthenium weed
1000
500
0
Borchetta
Boset School
Tedecha
Sites
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Awareness about parthenium weed in the study area
Time
Sites
categories
Borcheta
Tedecha
Trebiret
Before1986
10
10
60
1987-1991
30
40
30
1992-1997
40
40
10
1998-2003
20
10
21
90
High
80
70
Medium
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Borcheta
Tadecha
Survey sites
Trebriet
Percent of farmers reported the abundance of
partehnium weed in crop fields
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Cover percent of parthenium weed and reduction
in carrying capacity of grazing land
Sites
Cover (%) of
Reduction in carrying
parthenium weed
capacity (%)
Borcheta
68.0
87.9
Tedecha
77.3
86.9
Trebiret
70.9
83.4
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Effect of parthenium weed on animals and their products
Effect of parthenium
Sites
Borcheta Tedecha Trebiret)
Bitter test and green color of milk
10
20
50
Changed color of meat and milk
60
30
50
Weight loss, changed color of meat and
10
-
-
-
50
-
10
-
-
milk, breast disease
Weight loss, changed color of meat and
milk
Weight loss and breast disease
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Methods and frequency of parthenium weed control
Methods of control used
Sites
Frequency of weed
control
Herbicides + Herbicides + Once
Two
Three
hand
hand
times
times
weeding
weeding +
burning
Borcheta 100
-
10
70
20
Tedecha
50
10
70
20
Trebiret
50
40
60
-
90
10
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Conclusion
• Parthenium weed has enormous seed bank
and above ground cover percent in the study
area
• Its infestation of has significantly reduced the
amount and composition of both the above
ground and the seed bank of herbaceous
vegetation and negatively affected the
livelihood of farmers in the study area.
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Conclusion…..
• Farmers are aware of parthenium, its distribution
and means of dissemination, and its negative
impact on their wellbeing, crop and livestock
production.
• They are also making some efforts to limit the
spread of parthenium. However, the success in
controlling the spread of parthenium is limited
because of the abundance of parthenium seed in
the seed bank, its ability to grow fast, weeding
after seed setting, not uprooting or uprooting
was not done at the appropriate time, and lack of
coordinated effort.
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Conclusion…..
• No mich effort is made to control the weed in
non-cultivated lands such as grazing areas,
wastelands, roadsides, etc except some
campaigns which are not done in coordinated
and continuous manner.
• Thus, integrated management programs must be
carried out to control parthenium weed.
Biological control of parthenium can be an ideal
option especially in uncultivated lands
• In general, coordinated and concerted efforts
must be made by the local people, extension
staff, researchers, governments and nongovernment organizations to mange parthenium
weed.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• USAID through IPM/CRSP for financial support
• Haramaya University for providing vehicle and
facilities
• Students Tujare Shore and Medhanit Bekele
for field work
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