16 In December 2023, Cliff, Clive, and Jeremy were approached by Liamé van der Westhuizen of ARC (Agricultural Research Council – Plant Health and Protection) to find out if we would be interested in assistingwith the distribution of insects for the biological control of the Pompom weed – Campuloclinium Macrocephalum. The biocontrol insect is a thrips which goes by the biological name of Liothrips tractabilis. Pompom weed is an aggressively invasive weed originating from South America. It invades grasslands, rendering them useless for grazing; this weed is inedible to just about all animals and insects in South Africa. This is a grave concern to all, as this weed has an impact on food production in South Africa, steadily worsening year by year. The ARC now has this biocontrol insect that needs to be distributed as far and wide as possible. So far, there have been few releases in Southern Mpumalanga, hence the contact with us. The collection of suitably infected plant material (with biocontrol) was arranged by Liamé and me for Friday, 26 January, at the Fabi TUKS Hillcrest facility. These insects were raised by ARC, and the FABI facility was used as a collection (Jeremy Carr – District Manager -Vryheid) point. Samantha Bush was the contact person at FABI and ably assisted me with the collection and loading of the bags of material. This infected material was then released on farms and municipal plantations in the Piet Retief and Commondale areas. The infected plant material was placed at the base of the weeds, with the expectation that the thrips will leave the infected Pompom material and colonise the weeds occurring in the veld. The aim of this release of the biocontrol agents is to control the growth and spread of the Pompom weed naturally and as effectively as possible. In the summer growing season, this insect targets the growth shoots and flowers of the host plant, stunting the plant’s growth and preventing the flowers from producing seed. The use of biocontrol measures to control invasive weeds is a very effective and environmentally sound approach, with the least potential damage to the surrounding areas. Further releases are planned by the ARC in the Piet Retief surrounds in the spring; there should be a noticeable effect on the weed in the next few years. Jeremy releasing bio-control agent in field of Pompom weeds Flowers of the Pompom showing Thrip damage Healthy Pompom flower
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