How to eradicate the water hyacinth?
By Echo Shan (chinadaily.ocm.cn)
Updated: 2005-08-30 08:39

Here we are at the Tonglu County, the third place we've visited in Zhejiang.

Standing on the big Fuchun Dam overlooking the boundless water, which even reflects the fishes swimming in it, one cannot imagine the rampant water hyacinth covering the water surface a few years ago, which had severely blocked the water route of ships then.

The water hyacinth is loaded onto the truck from the Fuchun river.
Worst of all, the pretty looking green plant would damage the water quality while it gets mature and later goes rotten in the water.

Local county authority has pooled a big amount of money special for controlling this harmful water-floating plant while so far of no avail for a thorough eradication.

"Each year we would allocate more than 1.6 million yuan for the water hyacinth control as we have not found a way to thoroughly get rid of it yet." Remarked Tonglu County director Zhong Rongrong, a clear-minded female carder in her early 30s.

The water quality of Fuchun River is around the clock censored by machines imported from the US.
She added: "we can assure a flat and clean water route on the Fuchun River with a early strike with the harmful plant pulled off water before it gets mature."

At the same time local expert has been searching for an environment-friendly way to eradicate the plant. "I suggest a food chain way to deal with it, to be specific, the earthworm." said engineer Huang expertise with water plant.

"We may use the water hyacinth to feed earthworms, and then to raise shelled turtles with 11 and in this course it will be used in an efficient way. " added Huang.

The water hyacinth is a floating plant. This invasive nuisance is planta non grata in much of the world where it often jams rivers and lakes with uncounted thousands of tons of floating plant matter.

A healthy acre of water hyacinths can weigh up to 200 tons! The water hyacinth is present throughout the southeast China.

In Zhejiang, where for many years since being imported from Brazil in 1950s, this weed had the upper-hand in water management, the water hyacinth in most places is under "maintenance control."

Field crews constantly working to keep the plant numbers at their lowest possible levels, in exchange for the rivers and lakes remaining usable.

Water hyacinth grows in all types of freshwaters.

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