Pests > Pest Management > Cultural control > Alternatives MBr, biofumigation, Australian trials



Pests > Pest Management > Cultural control > Alternatives MBr, biofumigation, Australian trials

Pests Pest Management Cultural control Alternatives MBr, biofumigation, Australian trials

Cyperus rotundus: biofumigation

The Department of Primary Industries, Australia, researchers are looking at non-fumigant alternatives, such as biofumigation, in which green manure brassica crops are grown in rotation with strawberries and release natural fumigants when incorporated into the soil. Also, they are looking at fungi that produce fumigants.

A member from Vanuatu thought that growing cabbages had an effect on nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus). On numerous occasions, where English cabbage or broccoli is planted, there is less regrowth of nutgrass when the soil is cultivated after the crop. Slowly but surely, nutgrass is much reduced over the whole farm and there is no need to spray with gylphosate any more.

On the matter of nutgrass control, members said that sweetpotato also competes well with nutgrass, and chickens and geese are very effective, too. Unfortunately, neither the chickens nor the geese ate Ageratum conyzoides. In India, pigs are used for nutgrass control. Also, the ???nut???s are collected by farmers and sold to traders for the incense industry.