The IVMP project comes to an end
In many cases, managers of amenity turf and other mown vegetation in eastern Australia are struggling with cost of keeping it in the condition that is expected by authorities and the general public. This is often due to the invasion over time by undesirable species that decrease the quality of the turf and trigger more intensive mowing activities.
The Integrated Vegetation Management Program (IVMP) project was undertaken in order to develop situation-specific strategies to reduce ongoing maintenance costs for the management of mown vegetation on roadsides and in public open spaces in eastern Australia. It has been based on knowledge and field experience gained overseas, where similar IVM programs have been in use for many years and are now becoming commonplace.
These strategies involve the application of plant growth regulators (PGR's) and/or herbicides, in combination with mowing and weed wiping activities, in order to deliver the best results depending on the situation and composition of the vegetation.
Field efficacy trials focussed on the management of Bahia grass, the most troublesome species in mown vegetation in eastern Australia. These trials demonstrated that the strategic application of certain herbicides could selectively remove Bahia grass from a grass sward over a single growing season. Other treatments were found to be particularly effective at suppressing Bahia grass seed-head production, with a single application reducing seed-head production by 97% for at least 11 weeks at the height of the growing season.
The findings of this project prove that IVM strategies have the capacity to significantly reduce mowing activities, while improving the quality of managed areas. This may provide significant financial benefits, by reducing the cost of managing these areas, as well as providing environmental benefits (e.g. less carbon emissions and reduced weed seed spread).
As a result, pilot programs are currently being coordinated with Brisbane City Council and Gold Coast City Council for the 2010/2011 financial year. It is envisaged that these pilot programs will take what has been learned from the IVMP project and start to prove their value in real world situations. They will use the options that are already registered for use, and apply them to specific vegetation management situations using the IVM method. As these methods are proved in real situations, and more options become registered, it is hoped that these pilot programs will be expanded and become more widely adopted by these and other organisations.
Extended label registrations are already coming into effect for some of the products included in the IVMP trials. For example, Syngenta has registered a tank mix of two of their existing turf products, Primo Maxx and Monument Liquid herbicide, for suppression and seed-head control of Bahia grass. Bayer Environmental Science will also soon be extending the label registration for one of their products. Many of the products that performed very well in the IVMP experiments were also generic herbicides, and it is recommended that further effort be made to obtain extended the label registrations of these products.
One of the other major benefits of this project is that it has brought chemical companies, service providers and end-users closer together and significantly increased the speed of knowledge transfer between them. As a result, the chemical companies are more connected with the end-users of their products and are more aware of the issues that concern them. This may also result in the registration of more products for non-fine turf situations in the future.
The IVMP project has highlighted the usefulness of this type of approach to the turf industry and the potential for the IVM method to be applied to other environments to provide better and more sustainable management solutions. For example, a number of organisations have expressed an interest in exploring the application of IVM techniques in landscaped amenity areas and aquatic environments.
The final report for the IVMP project has been submitted to Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) and will be published in the near future. Any interested persons or organisations are also invited to contact the Project Manager, as per the details below, to discuss opportunities to be involved in future research.
The Integrated Vegetation Management Program (IVMP) project was undertaken in order to develop situation-specific strategies to reduce ongoing maintenance costs for the management of mown vegetation on roadsides and in public open spaces in eastern Australia. It has been based on knowledge and field experience gained overseas, where similar IVM programs have been in use for many years and are now becoming commonplace.
These strategies involve the application of plant growth regulators (PGR's) and/or herbicides, in combination with mowing and weed wiping activities, in order to deliver the best results depending on the situation and composition of the vegetation.
Field efficacy trials focussed on the management of Bahia grass, the most troublesome species in mown vegetation in eastern Australia. These trials demonstrated that the strategic application of certain herbicides could selectively remove Bahia grass from a grass sward over a single growing season. Other treatments were found to be particularly effective at suppressing Bahia grass seed-head production, with a single application reducing seed-head production by 97% for at least 11 weeks at the height of the growing season.
The findings of this project prove that IVM strategies have the capacity to significantly reduce mowing activities, while improving the quality of managed areas. This may provide significant financial benefits, by reducing the cost of managing these areas, as well as providing environmental benefits (e.g. less carbon emissions and reduced weed seed spread).
As a result, pilot programs are currently being coordinated with Brisbane City Council and Gold Coast City Council for the 2010/2011 financial year. It is envisaged that these pilot programs will take what has been learned from the IVMP project and start to prove their value in real world situations. They will use the options that are already registered for use, and apply them to specific vegetation management situations using the IVM method. As these methods are proved in real situations, and more options become registered, it is hoped that these pilot programs will be expanded and become more widely adopted by these and other organisations.
Extended label registrations are already coming into effect for some of the products included in the IVMP trials. For example, Syngenta has registered a tank mix of two of their existing turf products, Primo Maxx and Monument Liquid herbicide, for suppression and seed-head control of Bahia grass. Bayer Environmental Science will also soon be extending the label registration for one of their products. Many of the products that performed very well in the IVMP experiments were also generic herbicides, and it is recommended that further effort be made to obtain extended the label registrations of these products.
One of the other major benefits of this project is that it has brought chemical companies, service providers and end-users closer together and significantly increased the speed of knowledge transfer between them. As a result, the chemical companies are more connected with the end-users of their products and are more aware of the issues that concern them. This may also result in the registration of more products for non-fine turf situations in the future.
The IVMP project has highlighted the usefulness of this type of approach to the turf industry and the potential for the IVM method to be applied to other environments to provide better and more sustainable management solutions. For example, a number of organisations have expressed an interest in exploring the application of IVM techniques in landscaped amenity areas and aquatic environments.
The final report for the IVMP project has been submitted to Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) and will be published in the near future. Any interested persons or organisations are also invited to contact the Project Manager, as per the details below, to discuss opportunities to be involved in future research.
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