Agreed Anand ji. Ipomoea carnea was introduced for green manuring in paddy fields. Senior farmer of Chhattisgarh Shri D.D.Verma still remembers that how with police band this exotic species was brought in Raipur from Bhopal in special truck. Ipomoea may be a promising solution for irrgated rice but in rainfed condition it spreads in farmer's field as weed and it is next to impossible to remove it.
Living with this species natives have started developing its uses. It is used as Fuelwood but its fumes are curse for eyes and lungs. Farmers are using it as fence. Our Blister beetles have started consuming its flowers. These beetles are very toxic. When cattle feed on Ipomoea accidentally they die within no time. It is reported that in west, one blister beetle, present in alfalfa used as fodder, can kill full grown horse if ingested with the fodder. Ipomoea carnea harbours green snake which is locally known as Beshram Domi in Chhattisgarh. This snake attacks on cattle if Ipomoea is disturbed. The Traditional snake experts claim that this snake was not present before introduction of Ipomoea. Hmmmm!!! it seems that Ipomoea reached with special scheme i.e. Ek ke saath ek free. Our Tortoise Beetle tired of feeding on Ipomoea batatas got new species in form of Ipomoea carnea. Now they prefer this exotic species as comapred to batatas. I tried to use these beetles to manage Ipomoea but failed. Atleast 20 native species of insects started liking Ipomoea carnea. As it grows shamelessly everywhere thats why it is known as Beshram, When anyone says "BESHRAM" I remeber the song of Kamal Hasan's film Ek Dooje ke Liye. Beshram and next line of song is Satyam Shivam Sundram. Parthenium is also present everywhere even more shamelessly than Ipomoea but in Mandla region due to its omnipresence it got new name as Ram Phool and Bhagvan Ram is present everywhewre (But definately not like Parthenium) Traditional Healers are now using it in tens of formulations. It is popularly used as medicine for Vitiligo i.e. Leucoderma. I am using its extracts and leachate to manage pest in organic farming and also promote crop growth. Parthenium reached with wheat through PL-480 plan but now we are under international pressure to deny this historical fact and write that Parthenium was present in India even before inroduction of PL-480. We received Parthenium as problem and now most of the chemcials to manage Parthenium are coming from the country of its origin. It is old Saying "Pahale dard diyaa aur fir dawa kee." Few days back Gurcharanji and Balkar ji were discussing new introduced species of Heliotropium. I am eager to know about its path of introudction. Sorry if Oudipedia has taken much of your time. :) regards Pankaj Oudhia On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Anand Kumar Bhatt <[email protected]>wrote: > I dont know how it happened that all the exotic plants which we brought to > India with great enthusiasm and high hopes were proved to be invasive or > injurious in some other way. Let us reel off the names: water hyacinth which > was brought by an English lady for the beautiful flowers, ipomea which was > supposed to solve the fodder and firewood problem in the villages, > eucalyptus which was thought to be an excellent tree for forest plantation, > subabool and now acacia auriculiformis which was thought to be a useful > plant for covering degraded forest area as it is non-browsable. I am not > mentioning lantana and parthenium. > The moral of the story is that one should go for native plants, not search > for exotic plants to be imported for large scale plantation. > Another plant which is being propagated by a reputed religious organisation > is Simarouba glauca. Well one has to wait for a few years to see how useful > and harmless the tree is. > ak > > > On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:39 AM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Acacia auriculiformis to be precise..... >> Pankaj >> >> >> >> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:35 AM, Shantanu Bhattacharya >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Hi >> > sharing a pic of the Phyllode Acacia (Acacia auriculoformis)...an >> invasive >> > species from Australia. >> > Pic taken at Narendrapur. >> > >> > this plant now grows in profusion in many parts of Bankura and Puruliya >> > districts of West Bengal...the red soil is ideal for its growth...but it >> > doesnt allow other plants to grow...and its outcompeting other trees in >> the >> > area. >> > >> > i was shocked to see that there were no other trees in Mukutmanipur- a >> nice >> > tourist spot near Bankura. >> > >> > >> > Shantanu :) >> > >> > >> > Shantanu Bhattacharya. >> > B.Sc, M.Sc (Zoology) >> > University of Calcutta. >> > Teaching Faculty. >> > Dept. of Biology. >> > Vivekananda Mission School(ICSE). >> > Joka. Kolkata. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> *********************************************** >> "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" >> >> >> Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) >> Research Associate >> Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project >> Department of Habitat Ecology >> Wildlife Institute of India >> Post Box # 18 >> Dehradun - 248001, India >> > > > > -- > Anand Kumar Bhatt > A-59, B.S.F.Colony, Airport Road > Gwalior. 474 005. > Tele: 0751-247 2233. Mobile 0 94253 09780. > My blogsite is at: > http://anandkbhatt.blogspot.com > (A NEW BLOG HAS BEEN ADDED ON 3 SEPT 2010.) > And the photo site: > www.flickr.com/photos/akbhatt/ > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Ten most common surnames of Indians: Singh, Kumar, Sharma, Patel, Shah, > Lal, Gupta, Bhat, Rao, Reddy. Cheers! >
