Risk Analysis - A Biosecurity Tool to Assess Weed Potential of a Plant

Abstract

Seeds and planting materials of different plant species are being imported into India. Many of these have the potential to become agricultural or environmental weeds and this risk needs to be assessed before allowing their entry. Weed risk assessment method was judged on its ability to correctly reject weeds and accept non-weeds. Out of 170 plants tested, a total of 40% plants were classified as serious weeds, 30% as common weeds and remaining 30% were non weeds. The system is designed to be operated by plant quarantine officers. The weed risk assessment system with explicit scoring of biological, ecological and geographical attributes is a useful tool for detecting potentially invasive weeds in other areas of the world