Search
The fall issue of Louisiana Agriculture focuses on invasive species. Topics covered include Asian carp, nutria, feral hogs, Formosan termites, fire ants, giant salvinia, Chinese privet, Mexican rice borer and more. Vol. 53, No. 4. 44 pages.
Chinese privet is not the only plant that has invaded the Louisiana landscape and created problems for farmers, forest owners and homeowners.
Louisiana is a beautiful state with a unique blend of cultures and habitats. Positioned on the Gulf of Mexico and at the mouth of the Mississippi River,the state benefits economically from international trade and interstate commerce.
The Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Mich., recently announced a partnership with the LSU AgCenter to develop a sustainability program for Louisiana rice producers who grow rice for Kellogg’s products.
The Mexican rice borer, a threat to sugarcane and rice, has moved eastward from Texas extending farther into Louisiana.
The Formosan subterranean termite is considered the most important structural pest of the new millennium. It is more aggressive than native subterranean termites, and colonies may be greater in numbers reaching millions of termites.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, state legislators and ConAgra Food officials thanked the LSU AgCenter during the Nov. 5 grand opening of ConAgra’s new sweet potato processing plant near Delhi.
The nutria is possibly the most well-known of the non-native species introduced into the environment of south Louisiana.
These articles were published in the fall 2010 issue of Louisiana Agriculture Magazine.
Because of the persistent infestation of the Formosan subterranean termite that has threatened to destroy historical buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a federally funded program called Operation Full Stop was initiated in 1998 to apply areawide treatments to suppress the termite and limit further damage.
The red imported fire ant invaded the United States from South America more than 75 years ago. It was first discovered in Louisiana in the early 1950s.
An LSU AgCenter 4-H program has been chosen for a national award by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For the past few months, the institutions of higher education in Louisiana, including the LSU AgCenter, have been under the threat of deep budget cuts as high as 32 percent. Such severe cuts would be catastrophic.
Solving the whodunit mystery of insect damage in a rice crop will be easier with a new online program developed by the LSU AgCenter.
There is an invasive species in town that might not be welcome, but at least this one we would like to invite to dinner. Commercial fishers across Louisiana have been reporting increasing populations of both bighead carp and silver carp, known collectively as Asian carp, beginning in the early 1980s.
I remember watching a science fiction television program as a child where the residents of a house were being attacked by giant termites the size of small cars from an alien world.
Asian carp have become a huge environmental problem in waterways throughout the Mississippi and Missouri river basins.These fish, which are comprised of the “silver” and “bighead” species, were originally introduced into private U.S. ponds in the 1970s.
Since the arrival of Europeans in North America, thousands of plants have been introduced intentionally for agricultural, fiber or ornamental purposes.
An unintended consequence of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred on April 20, 2010, has been the expansion of invasive freshwater plants into the intertidal zone along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.
Experts estimate the damage from Formosan subterranean termite infestations in the United States exceeds $1 billion per year. In Louisiana alone, the most affected state in the continental United States, they estimate damage at almost $500 million a year.
From an entomology integrated pest management perspective, invasive species have several characteristics that make them difficult to control. As the insect is brought in or migrates into new areas, only rarely does the new pest bring along its natural enemies, which can include parasites, predators and diseases.
The LSU AgCenter has released three new varieties of rice.
Red imported fire ants were introduced into the United States more than 75 years ago. Since then, fire ants have invaded more than 320 million acres in 12 southeastern states, and they continue to spread despite eradication and quarantine efforts.
Plants and animals introduced into Louisiana cause a wide range of ecological problems. Notable examples include water hyacinth, Chinese tallow tree, nutria, English sparrows and European starlings.
Louisiana Agriculture Magazine
The LSU AgCenter has received grants totaling nearly $1.26 million during the past few months.
Over the past 120 years, many individuals have released aquatic plants into state and private waters in Louisiana with the best of intentions, only to find out that the seemingly innocuous and often very attractive plants have completely upset the ecology of the receiving water bodies.
Scott Angelle, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources(DNR) and former Louisiana lieutenant governor, has received the national Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) Friend of Extension Award for his support and promotion of the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H program.
The Louisiana citrus industry includes 250 growers who produce on average $9 million worth of fruit on 800 acres per year. The majority of the commercial citrus acreage, 550 acres, is in Plaquemines Parish, the narrow strip of land just south of New Orleans next to the Mississippi River.
In the eyes of many conservationists, feral swine are among the most damaging invasive species around the world. Farmers, ranchers, foresters and landowners consider the feral swine to be a nuisance, at best, and, more commonly, a grave threat.
