June 1998, Volume 19 No. 2
- Editorial
- General News
- Biorational
- Internet Round-Up
- New Books
- Conference Reports
- Proceedings
- Training News
Chromolaena Workshop
These proceedings* are the outcome of a workshop attended by 55 participants and held at Bangalore, India in October 1996 to discuss biological control and management of Siam weed, Chromolaena odorata [see BNI 18(1)]. The workshop was organized into sessions covering the Chromolaena Network programmes, country reports, the ecology of Chromolaena, conflicting interest and utilization of the weed, cultural and chemical control methods, biological control, and biology and physiology of insects. The workshop concluded with a panel discussion on the regional and international programmes.
Papers on the biology and ecology of Chromolaena in relation to its success as a weed are included. There are also papers reviewing programmes for its management and control in India, China, Papua New Guinea, Java, Australia, Micronesia, Ghana and South Africa. Progress in biological control with the gall fly Procecidochares connexa (by Wilson & Widayanto for Australia and Indonesia) and the moth Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata (by Timbilla for Ghana and Visalakshy for India) is reviewed, and papers are included on the biology and physiology of these species. Prospects for additional insect and pathogen candidates are discussed. Chemical and cultural methods involving the use of herbicides or suppression with competitive species, respectively, are considered, and the potential of Chromolaena as a green manure is outlined.
Among recommendations made, the need is highlighted for national and international collaboration to tackle the management and control of this and other alien invasive weeds which are threatening the biodiversity of ecologically important areas of the humid tropics, such as the Western Ghats in India - and the need to bring this to the attention of international donors is noted. It is suggested that affected countries should consider a range of insect and pathogen biocontrol agents for introduction, but chemical and cultural methods and alternative uses of Chromolaena in some agro-ecological systems should also be assessed.
*Ferrar, P.; Muniappan, R.; Jayanth, K. P. (eds) (1998) Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Biological Control and Management of Chromolaena odorata, Bangalore, India, October 1996. IOBC Working Group on Chromolaena/International Chromolaena Network/University of Guam/Association for Advancement of Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems/Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Mangilao, Guam, USA; Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Guam, Publication No. 216, vi + 130 pp.
