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The Economic Times
The Economic Times
National
Team Global

In 2001, USDA researchers released salvinia weevils in Texas and Louisiana; by 2003, weed cover had fallen near release sites while untreated controls stayed choked

A tiny bug, no bigger than a tenth of an inch long, has quietly helped suppress giant salvinia, one of America's worst water weeds, without a drop of chemical spray. A peer-reviewed study in Aquatic Botany by Philip Tipping, Melissa Martin, Ted Center, and Tracy Davern tracked this exact experiment in Texas and Louisiana, and the numbers still surprise people today.

A weed that can quickly overrun lakes

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