Indian quarantine weeds invasiveness assessment using bio-security tool: Weed Risk Assessment

Abstract

Introduced plants may contribute to the economic losses to agriculture and exert a substantial financial burden on the resources available for the management of natural areas. Most of these taxa have the ability to become agricultural or environmental weeds, and therefore prior to permitting their entry, the risk/s needs to be evaluated. Weed risk assessments (WRA) are used to identify plant invaders before introduction. Thus, in order to recognize plant introductions that are likely to cause damage, we examined the weed risk assessment (WRA) of quarantine weeds (Gazette notification issued on 24th October, 2019), that are listed in Schedule VIII of Plant Quarantine Order, 2003 issued under the Destructive Insect & Pest Act (1914) of India. The weeds species selected for the present study are already included in the quarantine weeds list. However, the data on how much risk is posed by these weed species is not available in Indian context. Therefore, we have made an attempt to assess of risk posed by these weed species. The present study revealed that among the evaluated 54 species, 33, 16 and 4 species showed high risk, intermediate risk and low risk, respectively. The highest WRA score (35) was recorded for the species Senecio inaequidens DC. The WRA score 34 was recorded for 3 species namely Centaurea diffusa Lam., Senecio jacobaea L. and Solanum carolinense L. Amongst these weeds the lowest WRA score (16) was observed in case of Cichorium spinosum L.