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| Himalayan Balsam (image courtesy of CABI) |
Himalayan Balsam Rust fungus released
Himalayan Balsam is the bane of many a river
managers life, with often the only effective treatment being hand pulling over
a number of years. Now a new agent is
possibly coming to the rescue of reducing the impact of this pernicious
non-native in the form of a fungus that is host specific.
On the 23 July 2014, the
Himalayan balsam rust was approved for release by Defra Ministers making this
the first fungal biological control agent to be released against a weed in the
European Union. The release was co-ordinated
by CABI under licence from Natural England
