Parthenium hystrophorous (or vayyaribhama in Telugu) has spread in 22 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh, outpacing paddy or cotton. Farmers are not at all happy about this as this weed, also called congress grass, is a front-ranking enemy for them. The weed depletes nitrogen in soil and leads to lower yields.
It is not good either to human beings or animals. It can trigger skin, lung and sinus allergies when a person comes close to this weed while walking in lawns or parks. Cows and buffaloes that eat parthenium plants will lose weight and milk yields come down.
“If you do not do something about this before flowering, it spreads very fast. Unless you pluck them out, it could cause serious losses,” Ms V. Usha Rani, Commissioner (Agriculture Department), said.
As this involves a lot of manual labour, the Department has proposed a plan to include this weed removal programme in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). It pegs 6.62 lakh workdays worth Rs 662 crore.