2023-08-06 05:00:00
In Antwerp, the alderman for the environment has launched a pilot project: electrocution. Japanese knotweed is present in this municipality on nearly 100,000 square meters, mainly along the Scheldt.
Concretely, a tractor equipped with an articulated arm is placed above the plants. A generator sends 4000 volt surges through the plants.
The goal is to necrotize the roots. Stems and roots are affected right down to their cells. This electrocution has the advantage of being beneficial to the environment because the plant eventually dies, but the life of the surrounding soil is spared.
The city has also pledged not to move the soil in which Japanese knotweed is present. Started last spring, the experiment continues in Antwerp for the time being. Our specialist from Gembloux is following the experience with interest but, according to him, Japanese knotweed has spread so widely in Belgium that he does not see any miracle solution to completely eradicate it from our territory.
Thierry Hance, biologist at the Ecology and Biodiversity Laboratory at UCLouvain is following this project with great interest, but he is under no illusions: “This is a solution that can only be applied to small areas. We will never be able to eradicate Japanese knotweed across Belgium using this method.”
According to him, this colonizing plant occupies abandoned spaces which, in the long term, are supplanted by other plants. It does not pose health problems like other invasive plants. He adds: “In Japan, young edible plants are used in cooking.”
Another positive aspect of this invasive plant. It produces a lot of nectar at the end of the season which allows the bees to better stock up for the winter. The plant therefore does not only have bad sides.
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