Agriculture
20 May, 2024
Co-ordination call to lift wheel cactus fight
WHEEL cactus was spreading faster than it could be controlled, a veteran Landcare crusader told a conference in Inglewood on Monday. Tarrengower Cactus Control Group’s Lee Mead was one of three speakers at the Loddon Plains Landcare Network day...
WHEEL cactus was spreading faster than it could be controlled, a veteran Landcare crusader told a conference in Inglewood on Monday.
Tarrengower Cactus Control Group’s Lee Mead was one of three speakers at the Loddon Plains Landcare Network day discussing how to combat evasive weeds.
Lee said a co-ordinated statewide attack on wheel cactus was needed.
She wants a Victorian wheel cactus task force to increase awareness and co-ordinate the implementation of integrated management plans including use of injection herbicide and manual removal.
Monday’s forum was told that wheel cactus had spread from the Maldon district to nearby Laanecoorie and Eddington in recent decades.
And Lee said the infestation at Mount Buckrabanyule since 1986 was another serious outbreak.
She said the battle to combat wheel cactus needed sufficient financial support and resources to increase compliance by property owners, describing current “compliance” threats as impotent.
La Trobe University head of environment and genetics environment John Morgan explored weed management techniques. His team is working with conservation groups, government agencies and land managers to provide evidence-based solutions that take into account biodiversity, ecosystem function, and management opportunities.
“My goal is to apply the basic and applied science we do to the challenges of restoration, species invasion, and environmental change,” he said.