Dangerous weeds detected in wheat imported into Vietnam

The Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has just sent an official dispatch to businesses requesting that from November 1, businesses that have imported wheat shipments that have been tested to be contaminated with Cirsium Arvense (Vietnamese name is Cirsium Arvense) will have to re-export.

The move came after quarantine authorities discovered 1.6 million tonnes of imported wheat mixed with thistle among nearly 4 million tonnes of wheat imported into Vietnam since the beginning of the year.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Hoang Trung, Director of the Plant Protection Department, said that thistle is a very dangerous alien plant species. This plant is currently subject to plant quarantine in more than 40 countries, including Vietnam, due to the risk of competing for nutrients with agricultural crops.

"If there are 20-30 thistle plants on a square meter of crop, the yield of that crop will be reduced by 25-75%," Mr. Trung said, adding that this plant has the ability to spread extremely quickly. A thistle plant has about 5,000 seeds, so if just one plant spreads seeds in a growing area in Vietnam in one day, it will be dangerous. The plant's seeds can survive in water for 20 years and still germinate.

Mr. Trung also said that if countries importing agricultural products from Vietnam knew that thistle appeared in growing areas, agricultural products such as rice would be affected.

Previously, the Plant Protection Department had applied monitoring measures from the wharf to the warehouse and finished product production for wheat importing enterprises. The Department also warned enterprises to proactively import goods from countries that are not infected with this weed.

"According to international practices and Vietnamese regulations, the Department must apply stronger measures such as requiring the re-export of these shipments to prevent and protect domestic production and goods exported to other countries," said Mr. Trung, adding that this plant has not yet been detected in Vietnamese fields.

Research around the world has shown that up to 27 types of crops compete for nutrients with thistle. In countries such as the US, Canada, Korea, India, Australia, Brazil... this grass is classified as a harmful plant and is banned.

Vietnam has spent a lot of money and manpower on dealing with exotic plants such as the mimosa pudica and the morning glory. Measures such as cutting down, burning, and spraying herbicides have little effect because they have in common the ability to grow quickly and regenerate strongly after being cut or burned.

Their seeds can survive, germinate for a long time and spread in many forms: drifting along rivers, floodwaters, sticking to people's clothes, animal fur, burying in riverbank sand and from there being transported to many areas when sand is mined for construction.