DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

GS-III :

27 July, 2020
8 Min Read

Yercaud lake affected by Water hyacinth

Yercaud lake is located in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
It is recently affected by the problem of water hyacinth.

About Water hyacinth:

Water hyacinth is a free-floating and flowering invasive aquatic plant originating from Amazon Basin, South America.
It has spread mainly to the tropics and subtropics since the 1800s. Water hyacinth has been considered an invasive aquatic plant in the United States since 1984, in Africa since the early 1900s, in Asia since 1902, and in Europe since the 1930s.
The reproduction systems of water hyacinths are both sexual and asexual reproduction.
The invasive plant doubles itself within 5–15 days.

Negative impacts of water hyacinth:

It significantly affects the lake hydrology by increasing the evapotranspiration of lake water.
It creates a favourable environment for the production of snails and mosquitoes that cause diseases like Bilharzia and malaria.
The mat of water hyacinth affects recreation and tourism facilities in large water bodies, and impacts fishing and transportation, irrigation, and hydropower infrastructures in water bodies infested by the nuisance weed, water hyacinth.
Water quality can be affected by the invasion of water hyacinths.

Methods to control:

To eradicate or control water hyacinth, physical, chemical, and biological methods are widely applied throughout the world.
The physical method is employed by directly harvesting, cutting, and removing the plant using machines or manual removing by hands and hand tools.
Chemicals (herbicides and pesticides), either conventional or nonconventional can be applied directly or indirectly to infested areas to eradicate or reduce the growth of the weed.
Biological methods involve applying arthropods and pathogens to infested areas.
Arthropods feed the leaves of water hyacinth but pathogens make the plant infected by the disease and finally decompose by bacterial actions.
The most common and effective arthropods are weevils, pathogens, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Although the most advisable are preventive control methods, application of integrated control methods is advised.

Source: TH

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