Year Three - The Road Ahead

Whilst Year three is in the process of being finalised, the proposed direction for the project involves the following three pronged approach;

1. The evaluation of programs for the lead technologies; selecting the most promising methodologies and evaluating these in programs conducted in field situations where Bahia grass and Common Paspalum dominate the vegetation cover. The purpose is to make options available for commercial use as quickly as possible.
2. The optimisation of other technologies which international experience and scientific literature identify as having potential, but may not have performed well in trials during Year two. This poor performance has been identified as being possibly due to the product rate selected or application interval. These products require further evaluation in shortened programs for efficacy against Bahia grass and other Common Paspalum species.
3. The evaluation of products in shortened programs for efficacy trials on a broader range of identified problem weed species, including Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), Green Panic (Panicum maximum),Pitted bluegrass (Bothriochloa decipiens) and Sheda grass (Dichanthium annulatum).

IVM at its best in North Carolina

Further to this, aligned project and extension work is being considered for separate yet aligned trials with both Gold Coast City Council and the Department of Main Roads. It is proposed that in conjunction with their service provider Technigro, trial work be conducted to evaluate the integration of IVM strategies into current mowing operations to assess the cost / benefit of modifying the current mown vegetation management practices.

The respective projects will involve;

1. The identification of desirable and undesirable plant species within the trial area
2. Establishing an understanding of species composition for the roadside vegetation in the trial area
3. Development of IVM strategies based on intervention heights and contract management requirements for the mown vegetation within the trial site
4. Applying treatments with growth regulatory / seed head suppression qualities to undesirable species within trial site
5. Monitoring /measuring the performance of these treatments against the desired outcomes of the trial
6. Undertaking a cost benefit analysis measuring management utilising IVM Strategies v Current Practises
7. Reporting to clients and their customers regarding trials, program activity and program results

Back to news