Cactus "bombed"

Aerial control of weeds took on a new meaning when remote infestations of a pest cactus were "bombed" with cactus-eating insects. Agriculture Protection Board adviser, Eric Pearson said prickly pear cactus had been established for many years on a number of island in the Dampier Archipelago, probably introduced when the islands were used for grazing last century. Since then the cactus had spread replacing native vegetation and threatening the delicate ecosystems of the islands. The infestations were too remote to treat economically so a small consignment of cochineal insects were brought over from New South Wales by helicopter and established on West Lewis Island. The aerial operations placed more insects in cactus infestations where they were sparse. The operations was successful beyond expectations and plans are being made to spread the insects on to prickly pear infestations on the mainland. PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide a public view of this newspaper article as the copyright is held by the publisher of Elders Weekly. If you would like to obtain a copy of this newspaper article for research purposes, please ‘request a copy'. This article is part of the WISALTS (Whittington Interceptor Sustainable Agriculture Land Treatment Society Incorporated) Collection