Dienvidkurzeme sees first results from hogweed control

Dienvidkurzeme Municipality has reported the first results of a new method for controlling Sosnowski’s hogweed, an invasive plant, LSM reported. The municipality plans to treat at least 40 hectares this year, but the plant continues to spread on many private properties, making control efforts longer and more expensive.

The most effective approach is considered to be a combination of mechanical removal and chemical treatment. Dienvidkurzeme Municipality began using this method this year.

“The work has produced results. Most of the plants have died or withered at the final stage. They are practically no longer reproducing, and only a few shoots have emerged,” said Andris Štolcs, deputy head of the Dienvidkurzeme Municipal Administration’s Communal Administration.

The herbicide is applied when a new leaf emerges from the ground at a height of about 30 centimetres. The plant absorbs the substance through the leaf and carries it to the root, where it dies, Štolcs said.

Using this method, most of the hogweed population can be eliminated within two to three years. The treated areas must then be monitored regularly to prevent the plants from spreading again. The herbicide costs 20 euros per hectare.

Inga Gaile, head of the Integrated Cultivation School company, said the method uses a combination of grain-crop herbicides registered in the European Union. According to Gaile, the herbicides affect hogweed but do not harm biodiversity.

About 12,000 hectares across Latvia are infested with hogweed. The affected land includes private, municipal and state-owned properties.

Ilva Jurkeviča, head of the Dienvidkurzeme Environmental Department, said hogweed destroys biodiversity and poses a serious risk to human health. Contact with the plant in ultraviolet light can cause burns and blisters, she said.

Dienvidkurzeme Municipality currently does not penalise private property owners for failing to control the invasive plant, saying it only began using a more effective control method this year. At the same time, the municipality receives complaints from residents about uncontrolled hogweed on neighbouring properties.