Aquatic weed harvester

This is particularly so in tropical countries where warmer water means the plants grow more quickly, and increasing run-off of fertilisers and effluent has exacerbated the problem.

In some large irrigation projects in India, canals have become so overgrown with vegetation that water flow has been reduced to a fifth of its previous amount.

In Bangladesh, floodwater has washed mats of water hyacinth onto paddy fields, overwhelming the emerging rice crops.

[5] Rice is the main aquatic plant grown for human food, but smaller areas of watercress and water chestnut are also cultivated.

[6] Weed cutting boats are developed to enable the maintenance of canals, lakes and rivers[4] and to remove excessive aquatic life such as algae and other plants that may negatively affect a waterway's ecology.

Removal of the biomass (plant material) prevents the build-up of muck and sediment on the bottom of the lake that occurs from the rotting weeds.

Aquatic weed machines are expensive and does require a capital investment and the process may need to be repeated several times in a growing season.

Small fragments of weed may remain in the water and may spread to other locations thereby aiding in the dispersal of invasive species.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that fathead minnows exposed to concentrations of fluridone showed signs of endocrine disruption.