The Parthenium Awareness Week is currently being organised at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) in Dehradun headquarters and at its research farm in Selaqui. This activity is slated to conclude on August 22, according to the officials of the institute.
The officiating director of the institute, NK Sharma and scientist Raman Jeet Singh shared their knowledge and experience on Parthenium. They informed the gathering at the institute that humans and animals suffer from respiratory and skin diseases due to the weed Parthenium. These diseases lower the productivity in animals. Parthenium is also ranked 25th in the list of harmful weeds. They further informed Parthenium was not found in India before 1956. Its seed came along with wheat from Mexico and USA. At that time the harmful effects of Parthenium were not known and therefore, no control measures were adopted to prevent the spread of this harmful weed in the nation. As a result this grass/weed spread all over the country. As soon as the ill-effects of this week became known, the government took measures to control it. The grass should be uprooted before flowering. A plant of Parthenium produces about 1,500 to 25,000 seeds. In a year Parthenium completes about three to four life cycles. Therefore, the grass spread rapidly. The grass can be controlled with a spray of 20 per cent salt solution. As the grass spreads rapidly, it does not let any other grass or plants grow in the area it is occupying. Thus it causes scarcity of green fodder in the area and also has an adverse effect on the biodiversity of the area.
During the programme, a film on Parthenium produced by ICAR-Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur was also screened. At the end, all officers and staff of the institute uprooted Parthenium in the institute’s campus.