As the Agriculture Department shifts into high gear in locating and eradicating the invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus, some quarters have warned the authorities against relying too heavily on herbicides. Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Dean of the Agriculture Faculty Professor Dr Abdul Shukor Juraimi said herbicides were not an effective method for the long-term as P. hysterophorus could develop resistance to the chemicals used. “Chemicals are not good for the environment in the long term. Besides P. hysterophorus developing resistance, some herbicides can also affect the ecosystem,” he warned. The active ingredients in the weedkiller used by the DOA are glyphosate, atrazine or metribuzin. The use of atrazine, which has been banned in the European Union, has raised some eyebrows as studies have shown it can contaminate drinking water and alter natural hormone levels in animals and humans. Dr Abdul Shukor, who is currently working with the authorities and other academics on control methods, said that as atrazine could “stay for quite long in the soil”, it should not be used frequently. “It takes a while to leave the ecosystem, so we must calculate how frequently it can be used. We will work hard to come up with safe controls.”
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 07:52:46 +0000
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