Spring and summer are good times for people to choose to go outing. Before going outing, we should have some understanding of common allergens. The pollen of ragweed, even one of them, has a great harm to the human body. So how can we identify ragweed?
【The Difference Between Ragweed and Mugwort】
Mugwort has a close relationship with the Chinese people's life. Every Dragon Boat Festival, people always put mugwort in their homes to "ward off evil spirits." After it dries up, it is soaked in water and steamed to achieve disinfection and relieve itching. Pregnant women often use mugwort water to bathe or steam.
In addition, it can repel mosquitoes and flies, sterilize and disinfect, and prevent diseases. Mugwort is also used in acupuncture therapy called "moxibustion", which is the process of igniting mugwort and using the smoke to fumigate and burn the acupuncture points.
Ragweed, on the other hand, is a global pollutant plant that can cover and suppress native plants, causing damage to the original ecosystem, reducing agricultural production, consuming water and nutrients in the soil, and causing air pollution due to pollen. It is a harmful plant.
Pollen is light in weight, small in size, and can float with the wind. Moreover, it has many small thorns on its surface, which can easily attach to the respiratory mucosa. Every summer and autumn, a large amount of pollen pollution is formed in the air, causing allergic asthma.
【The Hazards of Ragweed】
Ragweed is a dangerous weed that mainly harms humans through its pollen, which can cause allergic reactions.
During the pollen dispersal period from July to September, people without antibodies, once they inhale air containing ragweed pollen, will experience symptoms such as asthma, nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, itching throat, urticaria, chest tightness, dizziness, insomnia, and even unable to lie flat, and may even develop other complications, eventually leading to death.
Ragweed grows rapidly and can overwhelm other annual plants, dominate the land, destroy plant diversity, cause serious grass shortages in farmland, and result in poor crop yields.
Ragweed invades China's original wild vegetation, causing a decline and reduction in popular wild vegetables such as mustard greens, broomcorn, lettuce, and pig sprouts, and greatly damaging the green environment. Therefore, eliminating ragweed is imperative.
【Preventive Measures for Ragweed】
1. Agricultural control: The main measures are manual removal and cutting. According to the different growth conditions of ragweed caused by different regional climates, the appropriate time for removal can be determined, which is before ragweed flowers and bears fruit. However, manual removal is labor-intensive, difficult to completely eliminate, and if not handled properly, it can easily cause dangerous human carrying and transmission.
2. Chemical control: For different regions of non-farmland and farmland, spraying herbicides such as paraquat, glyphosate, pendimethalin, or fluorosulfuron can be used to kill ragweed.
3. Biological control: Introduce ragweed natural enemies, such as ragweed leafroller moths and broadleaf fireflies, for biological control, which has good effects.
4. Plant replacement: Use Chinese scholar tree, early maturing grass, etc., for replacement and control; eliminate wasteland, plant crops, and manage diligently. These methods have good control effects on ragweed.
If one method is not effective in a large area, several methods can be used together for comprehensive management.
