The Punjab Government has chalked out a comprehensive plan to eradicate the lantana camara, a noxious weed, which is a major threat to the State’s forest cover. lantana has been a difficult weed to control by chemical and cultural method.
For the purpose, the State Government has signed a project with Patiala’s Thapar University. “The State Government has signed a project namely ‘Use of Mycoherbicide for the Management of the Weed lantana Camara: a threat to resurgence of Forest in Punjab’ worth Rs60 lakh with Thapar University. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr Sanjana Sexena, the project would be completed within three years,” said the state Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister Chunni lal Bhagat.
In India, only a limited research has been carried out to control lantana camara which was threat to resurgence of forest in Punjab as well as other States namely Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Punjab, lantana is threatening Shivalik forest range thereby causing destruction of forest flora and fauna, hence biological control of this weed is very important to preserve the forest of Punjab, pointed the Minister.
“The Shivalik Forest in the districts of Ropar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur has been specifically affected by invasion of lantana camara. Siswan-Dulwan area, Ropar, spread in 2044 hectare in Shivalik is a high biodiversity area and the major problem is proliferation of various species of lantana,” said Bhagat, adding that another area of Shivalik exhibiting invasion by lantana is Narangpur forest area in Ropar.
He said that in Gurdaspur district, 34.9 per cent loss in forest cover has been attributed to lantana invasion. “Till now, according to an initial survey, a forest area of over 500 square kms have been lost in Punjab due to lantana camara invasion and this should continue have extended if remained unchecked,” he added.
The Minister said that it possess a serious threat in resurgence of forests if established in the forest ecosystem. “Each plant puts out up to 12,000 seeds, each can remain dormant up to 11 years and germinate faster if exposed to smoke,” he pointed.