Parthenium Awareness Programme at Agricultural College, Palem on 22-08-2019

Agricultural College, Palem has orgainised Parthenium Awareness Programme on 22.08.2019 at Agricultural College, Palem to make students aware about the menace of Parthenium, which is responsible for causing health problems in human beings and animals, besides deteriorating environment, loss of productivity and biodiversity. Dr. T. Ram Prakash, Senior Scientist from AICRP on Weed Control, Rajendranagar has explained about the menace of this weed.

Parthenium hysterophorus (Family: Asteraceae), locally called Vayyari Bhama or Congress grass, is an alien weed which entered into India along with wheat imported from USA in the early 1950s. The pollen grains, airborne dried plant parts, and roots of parthenium cause various allergies like contact dermatitis, hay fever, asthma, and bronchitis in human beings. The common allergens found in this weed are parthenin, coronopilin, tetraneuris, and ambrosin. Eradication of P. hysterophorus by burning, chemical herbicides, eucalyptus oil and biological control by leaf-feeding beetle, stem-galling moth, stem-boring weevil and fungi have been carried out with variable degrees of success.

Later the students of Agricultural College, Palem, Dr. G. Jayasree, Professor, Dr. K. Charan Teja and Mr. J. Veeranna, Assistant Professor and others removed the parthenium weed at the premises of the college.