2018, Vol. 6, Issue 4, Part A

author(s)
Abadi Birhanu and Pervaiz Rasheed Khan

abstract
Parthenium, an aggressive invasive weed, is believed to be a native to North and South America. Due to its allelopathic effect and adaptability to different environmental conditions, it is now distributed throughout the world including Ethiopia, where it was reported first in 1988, in the eastern and later in the north-eastern parts of the country. Some scholars believe that Parthenium came to Ethiopia together with the donated grain when the country was hit by famine. Othersopine that entered into the country during the Ethiopia and Somalia war in 1976/77 through military vehicles from Somalia. Still others also presume it has slipped into Ethiopia from the neighboring countries like Kenya. The weed aggressively invaded several rangelands in the country due to its allelopathic effect, capacity to produce copious amount of seeds and its ability to compete for resources to survive. Parthenium can affect the biodiversity, agriculture, human and animal health and the economic activities of society. Although several mitigation methods, mechanical, chemical, biological and utilization methods are used to control it, there is no single effective method, as each method suffers from limitations. Therefore, combination approach is suggested for an effective management.