Project Number: 6402-22000-073-01
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Oct 01, 2008
End Date: Dec 31, 2011

Objective:
The proposed research is to aggressively deploy and integrate multiple management techniques and monitor the transition of the floral communities at the test sites. Preliminary data collected over two years at Eden and Mound Bayou, MS, has supported the hypothesis that late-season mowing and selective herbicides with good translocation and soil uptake can provide a high level of kudzu control. It is proposed that these approaches integrated and extended by subsequent spot-treatments of kudzu escapes/survivors with the bioherbicide M. verrucaria and introduce competing vegetation to suppress the kudzu while concomitantly providing erosion control and preventing the introduction of additional invasive species, such as cogongrass.

Approach:
We propose to evaluate an intense, rapid, integrated kudzu eradication program at 4 locations in Mississippi. Through application of herbicidal and suppressive approaches it may be possible to reduce the time needed to achieve eradication. Use of herbicides with high selectivity and a biological control agent will allow for simultaneous re-establishment of desirable vegetation, thus providing more long-lasting kudzu exclusion.