1. Eshetu Bekele VSU Parthenium Project- Ethiopia International Workshop on Bioogical Control and Management of Parthenium hysterophorus Addis Ababa, Ethiopia July 14-17, 2014

2.  Address most of the adverse effects on ▪ Crops and pastures ▪ Livestock health and products ▪ Social ▪ Natural ecosystems  Include appropriate impact assessment plan and parameters  Quantify the economic benefits that could be obtained by managing the weed

3.  Evaluating pre-release baseline conditions ▪ Provides benchmarks against which effectiveness of the bioagent can be later evaluated  Monitoring establishment and spread of the bioagents ▪ This is an indicator of the ultimate success of any biological control program  Measuring actual impacts ▪ This actually measures the ultimate success or failure of the biological control program

4.  Photo points ▪ Comparison of a series of photographs taken from a fixed reference points ▪ Periodically on release and non-release plots  Stakeholder survey ▪ Comparative surveys of perceptions of managers, farmers DAs, etc ▪ A questionnaire to assess their opinions before and after release

5.  Comparing sites or plots with and without the bioagents: ▪ Abundance of parthenium ▪ Abundance of bioagents ▪ Extent of damage ▪ Response of the associated plant community

6.  Correlative studies: ▪ Correlation between weed performance and agent density or damage severity  Agent exclusion experiments: ▪ Comparison of protected plots (using pesticides or cages) with plots with the bioagents.

7.  On parthenium: before/during release & end of seasons  NP, NF, Ht, BM, SB  On bioagent: fortnightly after release & end of seasons (at & beyond the release points)  NA, NP, NL, NE per plant  Extent of damage: during the season  NDP, PLAD, visual score (0-5)  Associated plant communities  Spp., abundance, and % coverage

8.  Data should be taken from a unit area  Example: 0.5 x 0.5m quadrant  It should be replicated  Appropriate statistical models should be selected  Example: One way or two way ANOVA followed by a Tukey test (Dhileepan, 2003)

9.  Ultimate goal of biological control of parthenium is  improvement in crop and pasture yields and qualities.  Recovery of native species  Reduce the socioeconomic Impacts  But, it may take several years to measure such real impact  Requires continuous monitoring & data collection

11.  Superimposing zonal crop yield data on parthenium distribution map, three major crops identified in potential release areas  Teff  Sorghum and  Maize  Yields vary significantly within zones  District (wereda) level yields could be better  Thus, means of the last 5 seasons used

15.  Impact of biological control of parthenium on human health, livestock health and product qualities, net savings/incomes generated  Determined using well structured questionnaires.  Analyzed with appropriate statistical procedures

16.  The impact of managing parthenium by bioagents can be evaluated from different perspectives:  the establishment and effectiveness of the bioagents,  significant reduction in parthenium populations  subsequent increase in crop/pasture yields & quality,  Improvements in livestock health and quality of their products,  rehabilitation of other plant communities in the ecosystem, and  the additional economic benefits farmers could get from reduced weeding costs and labor.