Aussie wheat suffers from 3 pests, 11 weeds:Forum

New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) The imported Australain wheat stocks, intercepted at the Chennai port reportedly with high pesticide levels was also found to contain pests and weeds, alien to India, said the Forum for Biosecurity and Food Safety.

Forum Chief Davinder Sharma today released to the press here a list of pests and weeds, he claims to be existing in the Australain wheat. He said that some of the weeds detected were Dwarf bunt, Ergot and Grannary Weevil.

Some of the weeds are uncontrollable. These included Allium vineale, Ambrosia psilostachya, Centaurea diffusa, Echinochloa crus-pavonis, Helianthus californicus, Heliotropium amplexicaule, Polygonum cuspidatum, Proboscidea lovisiannica and Senecio jacobaea.

The forum expressed fear that some of exotic weed might enter India with imported weed from Australia as parthenium, popularly known as 'congress grass' came to the country with imported wheat from USA under PL480 in 1960s. Now, parthenium has spread to every nook and corner of the country and it has affected the local flora and fauna, Mr Sharma added.

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