 Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 16: KVK-Poonch under the patronage of Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-Jammu kick started the "Parthenium Awareness Week" to be celebrated throughout the country during 16-22 August, 2015. On the opening day, Dr. Sanjay Swami, Programme Coordinator said that Parthenium, popularly known as Congress grass, is one of the seven most dreaded weeds of the world.
He explained various harmful effects of Parthenium on crops, livestock and human beings including degradation of natural ecosystems. Parthenium can cause allergy-type responses like hay fever, photo-dermatitis, asthma, skin rashes, peeling skin, puffy eyes, and eczema in human being through pollen, air borne pieces of dried plant materials and roots. In case of livestock, it can cause anorexia, alopecia, dermatitis and diarrhea.
It aggressively colonizes disturbed sites resulting in reduction of pasture growth and forage production. Nearly 4.50 million hectares of area is under threat from the deadly weed Parthenium, which, if controlled, can raise India's food grains production by 25-30 per cent.
Proper management of this weed could increase crop yield by 30 per cent and help us to achieve self-sufficiency in import-dependent food items such as pulses and edible oil.
After highlighting the harmful effects of Parthenium, Dr. Sanjay Swami appealed to the KVK staff members and farmers to take-up the initiatives of Parthenium management at community level and emphasized to adopt an Integrated Parthenium Management by amalgamating all the available methods together. |
