Water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes: A case of successful Biological Control in Lakes Kyoga and Victoria - Uganda

Abstract

Water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, a world known water -weed was until lately serious a problem in Uganda and indeed the entire East African region. The weed caused serious socio-economic impact on the livelihood of Ugandans. Attempts were made to control the weed through an integrated approach including two biological control weevils, Neochetina bruchi and N. eichhorniae that were integrated in the control effort. Five years after their introduction, the weevils successfully reduced the biomass of the weed to an insignificant problem and life is back to normal in and along the formerly heavily affected lakes, Victoria,

Albert and Kyoga. The significance of this operation is discussed