Added Incentive to Counties to Control Weeds

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 82, Issue 6, 15 June 1951, Page 467

Added Incentive to Counties to Control Weeds

TO a country like New Zealand, whose national economy is founded on grassland farming, the prevention of the spread of weeds in its pastures and other crops is of paramount importance. . The approach to this problem of weed control in the Dominion has un-

I ' 1? fortunately not been sufficiently realistic in the past and landholders today are suffering in varying measure from the results of apathy of earlier generations. Some species of weeds which have been introduced to this country either deliberately or fortuitously have spread so quickly and so extensively that not only have they reduced the productivity of the fertile land they have invaded, but they have created difficulties which have been costly and slow to overcome.

With the object of achieving greater control of noxious weeds the Government introduced legislation to the last session of Parliament revising the Noxious Weeds Act, 1928, and incorporating recommendations made by a committee of representatives of certain organisations and Departmental officers set up to consider the measures necessary to secure weed eradication. The Noxious Weeds Act, 1950, aims at encouraging local bodies to assume responsibility for the administration of the Act within their districts and provides for financial assistance by way of a Government subsidy toward the cost of administration. This Act became operative on April 1, 1951, and already nearly half of the county councils in the Dominion are now administering its provisions within the counties they represent. To help these local bodies meet the cost of administration the Government has decided to grant them a £1 for £1 subsidy.

Though county councils have had the power to administer the 1928 Act in their districts since 1934, less than half the Dominion total had exercised this right before the passing of the 1950 Act. I hope that this subsidy will provide an added incentive to those rural local bodies who to date have not taken over the administration of the Act, as the Government recognises that effective control of noxious weeds can be achieved only by having the administration vested in the local body of a district.

Development of Chemical Weedkillers

During the war, when labour and material shortages became acute, the work of prevention of weed invasion and destruction of weeds had necessarily to be largely forsaken to meet the more urgent demands for war production. Since then and as a result of the increased labour demands of the post-war period the encroachment of weeds on our farmlands has increased.

In recent years hope of efficient and relatively easy destruction of weeds has been stimulated by the great strides made in the development of chemical weedkillers and in particular hormone preparations. However, though the potentialities of these new weedkillers are apparently considerable, much investigational work has yet to be done. Extensive experimental work has been undertaken on chemical weedkillers by private and official organisations.

Officers of the Departments of Agriculture and Scientific and Industrial Research have laid down approximately 600 field trials in all districts of New Zealand since the war and have carried out tests on most weeds of agricultural importance. A series of yield trials has been undertaken on cereals, linseed, and potatoes in Canterbury, where experiments have also been made with crop-spraying equipment for weedkilling.

The results of some of these trials have already been published in the “Journal of Agriculture”, and information about the findings of other experiments will be printed as it becomes available. This will ensure farmers’ keeping abreast of the latest scientific developments and will furnish guidance to them on the efficacy of chemical weedkilling preparations.

Unremitting War on Weeds Essential

Whatever success is attained in evolving efficient weedkillers and machinery for applying those weedkillers, the need for unremitting war on weeds will continue. Weeds allowed to develop and mature not only reduce the productive capacity of the land on which they grow, but endanger other land which is weed free. The establishment of plants like water hyacinth, nassella tussock, blackberry, and gorse which has already occurred illustrates plainly the menace that noxious weeds can become to our agricultural industry if they remain unchecked.

The raising of the levels of our future production may well depend on more intensive farming and greater stock-carrying capacity. It is certain at least that increased production must be our aim, and to reach this an essential pre-requisite is the cleaning of our grass and arable land of weeds. The present economic effect of noxious weeds on primary production is marked, but their potential effect can be disastrous. Effective weed control will be accomplished only by wholehearted co-operation between the farmers, local bodies, and Government agencies, and I feel sure that the new legislation and the assistance it offers will go far toward reaching this end.

K. J. HOLYOAKE,

Minister of Agriculture.