Ministry for Primary Industries

Effective Control of Manchurian Rice

This project aims to fill key knowledge gaps about the physiology, growth, and viability of the rhizomes of Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia, MWR) in New Zealand (NZ) in order to increase efficacy of treatment and shorten the timeframe required to eliminate infestations of this harmful weed.
This will involve the collection of rhizome material from sites in NZ, growth, examination, and manipulation of the material in a laboratory, and testing biosecure disposal methods. From this, we are looking to understand what it is that makes MWR rhizomes so tolerant to herbicide treatment, what factors determine how well herbicides translocate to the rhizomes, how long we have to monitor sites for regrowth and how we can safely dispose of excavated rhizome material.

Department/Business Unit: Biosecurity New Zealand