Control efficacy of salt treatment against kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)

抄録

Kudzu is an invasive vine and has raised a serious concern by stealing sunlight from its neighboring plants in forest plantation. Salt treatment was conducted to evaluate its efficacy for kudzu removal. A total of 157 kudzu crown roots were cut in half in Danyang, Sangju, and Yanggu in July 2020. Different amounts of sodium chloride (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 g) were added to the cut surface of crown roots according to crown diameters. Three months after salt treatments, the cut crown roots were revisited to check the vine growth. Average mortality percents of non-treatment (0 g) and salt treatments were 74.1% and 89.2%, respectively. There was an increase in mortality of kudzu as the salt amounts treated in the crown roots increased. Meanwhile, the mortality was negatively correlated with diameter of the crown roots. No further growth was observed in the crown roots at the diameter of 8 cm or less treated with 40 g of salt. The crown roots with salt treatment showed extensive tisse disruption and blackening compared with those of non-treatment. These results suggest that the salt treatment may be a chemical method that could be combined with physical removal of kudzu vines in plantation.