Can land managers control Japanese knotweed? Lessons from control tests in Belgium.

Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica is an extremely abundant invasive plant in Belgium and surrounding countries. To date, no eradication method is available for land managers facing the invasion of this rhizomatous plant. We tested different chemical herbicides with two application methods (spraying and stem injection), as well as mechanical treatments, on knotweed clones throughout southern Belgium.

Biofilters to treat the pesticides wastes from spraying applications: results after 4 years of study.

Biofilters were developed in order to eliminate or reduce the quantity of pesticides from rinsing and cleaning waters of sprayers. Biofilters consist in 1, 2 or 3 plastic containers of 1 m3 placed in a vertical pile and containing a substrate elaborated from a homogenised mixture of local soil, chopped straw and compost able to absorb and degrade the pesticides. Biofilters are installed near the area for cleaning and rinsing the sprayer and the waste waters are pumped into the system.

Development of biofilters to treat the pesticides wastes from spraying applications.

Several studies carried out in Europe showed the importance of direct losses to the contamination of surface water by pesticides. These pesticides losses can occur at the farm site when the sprayer equipment is filled with the pesticide formulation (spills, overflowing, leaking) and during the clean-up (rinsing) of the sprayer after the treatment. In Belgium studies are carried out on biofilters to treat in an efficient way effluents containing pesticides.

The heterogeneity of sprout inhibitor application with chlorpropham.

The CIPC or chlorpropham is used on potatoes as "sprouting inhibitor". These lasts years, some set of belgian potatoes treated by CIPC exceeded the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), fixed at 5 mg/kg. The heterogeneity of sprout inhibitor application would be one of the causes of over-dosage.

Study of potatoes' sprout inhibitor treatments with chlorprophame.

Studies carried out in 1999 by the University of Ghent showed that 36% of potatoes' samples contained Chlorprophame (CIPC) residues and that 7.9% of them exceeded the maximal limit of residues (RML), fixed at 5 ppm. The heterogeneity of sprout inhibitor application would be one of the causes of over-dosage.