Biocontrol Agent Launched For Parthenium

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Dec, 2023) In a major breakthrough to invade the Parthenium weed, also termed as famine weed, which is posing serious hazards to human and animal health, biodiversity and food security in Pakistan, CABI in collaboration with Agri Extension Institute and Entomology Dept University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) has launched biocontrol agent. They released stem boring weevils in the fields at Faisalabad.

Dr Ijaz Ashraf from UAF said, “Parthenium can cause severe allergic reactions in humans and livestock, may harbour malaria-carrying mosquito."

He said parthenium was a highly destructive weed, crossing continents and this weed is spreading rapidly in both rural as well as urban landscapes in the country. Hence, biological control of this weed was the need of the hour, he added.

Mr. Abdul Rehman, Deputy Director CABI, said that five hundred stem boring weevils (Listronotus steosipennis) were released to serve as a more sustainable approach to managing Parthenium which is also known as ‘famine weed’ due to its impacts on food security.

The stem boring weevil was approved for release in 2021 after host range testing took place in Pakistan to determine its safe usage as a biological control agent to literally ‘nip Parthenium in the bud’, he added.

He said, “This breakthrough has been made possible through collaboration among CABI, PARC, NARC, UAF, universities in Swabi and Mardan as well as integration with the Plant wise Plus programme”.

He said that Parthenium is native to tropical America and was accidentally introduced into several countries. In Pakistan, it now covers thousands of hectares of productive and rangeland, posing a huge economic burden, he added.

He said, “At CABI’s quarantine facility in Rawalpindi it was important, prior to release, to conduct host range testing on several species and varieties of important native and crop plants to ensure the weevil did not pose a risk to indigenous fauna”.

He said the stem boring weevil controls Parthenium by laying its eggs primarily in the flowers where newly hatched larvae tunnel into the stem and continue to feed, eventually exiting at the base of the stem to pupate in the soil.

Dr Naima Nawaz from UAF said that this weevil will help manage the spread of Parthenium in a more sustainable way without the need of chemicals or machinery that can have a negative impact on the environment.