Manual treatment of Jalkumbhi

North Bihar is India’s most flood prone region, with 76 percent population of north Bihar living under the recurring threat of flood. Sitamarhi is one of the districts of north Bihar with 100 percent population under the threat of flood devastation. When heavy rains occur in the central and eastern Nepal the water flows into the major drainages of Bagmati, koshi and other rivers.

Apart from the devastations flood provides benefits, it accommodates storage of water, recharges ground water, reduces sediments loads, provides fertile soils, and variety of fish and wildlife.

The aquatic plant Jalkumbhi or water hyacinth plays a major devastating role at the time of flood and post flood in these flood prone area. Jalkumbhi clogs waterways due to its rapid reproduction and propagation rate. This year flooded Lakhandei river of Sitamarhi damaged a bridge due to pressure of jalkumbhi. Clogged Lakhandei River caused more devastation during flood in Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts. There are large number of ponds and canals in these flood prone districts. Fisheries are old and sustainable livelihood adopted by the nearby habitats of the wet lands. Now this Jalkumbhi invasion is challenging the ecological stability of water bodies, posing a threat to native plants and fisheries. It prevents oxygen transfer from air to water surface and decrease oxygen production by native plants and algae. Death and decay of Jalkumbhi vegetation in large mass deteriorates the water quality and quantity.

It is not necessary to reiterate the nocuous effect of this floating weed, there are many papers giving valuable information about the effect of Jalkumbhi on water loss through evaporation, obstruction of navigation and fishing and blockage of drainage systems and irrigation canals and the population of north Bihar witnessing the same. And day by day it is becoming a very serious problem in these flood effected districts.

As of now, we don’t have any preventive system to obviate but it seen in the district the fishermen clean the pond and structures after the reincarnation of the weed. Some structures remain unattained and causing death of fishes, other organism and the structure.

There are some control methods practiced worldwide out of which biological control is adopted by many countries and agencies. In this method they control the weed through insects and reared weevils and the process is a wit complicated. Mechanical and manual system is trustworthy and in practice especially manual removal of jalkumbhi is being implemented in these districts. Manual removal demands high labour force but it is being implemented. It is effective in low infested areas and become a preventive tool.

The removed biomass could be used as organic manure after processed with composting or vermicomposting techniques. Observation and experiments conducted in different countries and India revealed the positive response with 100 percent Jalkumbhi manure 50 percent manure and jalkumbhi combined with farm yard manure. We should aim towards the exploration of best out of waste.

References

FAO

Achmad, S.1971. Problems and control of aquatic weeds in Indinesian open water

Gopal, B 1987. Water hyacinth aquatic plant studies