NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 665
DATE OF PUBLICATION: FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2011 [IQP No 39 -2011] SECOND
SESSION, FOURTH PARLIAMENT
Question 665 for written reply: National Council of Provinces, Mr V A
Manzini (DA-Mpumalanga) asked the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries:
(1)(a) What is the estimated amount of wattle under plantation in the
country and (b)
what is the total break down of this for each province;
(2) whether the Government approves an expansion of wattle plantations in
the country; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether her department has made any efforts to control the spread of
wattle in order to prevent infestation in areas outside of plantations; if
not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether there are any bio-controls in use to prevent infestation of
wattle outside of plantation areas; if not, why not; if so, what are the
relevant details;
(5) whether wattle growers have lobbied against the application of any bio-
controls; if not, how was this conclusion reached; if so, what are the
relevant details?
1. Below is the information on the extent of wattle plantations and a
breakdown according to provinces where there is an occurrence of such
plantations
[pic]Table1. Showing a provincial breakdown of wattle plantations
|Province |Area (ha)2002 |Area (ha) 2005|Area (Ha) 2008|
|Mpumalanga and|19 000 |15 000 |14 000 |
|Limpopo | | | |
|KwaZulu-Natal |92 000 |91 000 |79 000 |
|Western Cape |1500 |2 000 |2000 |
|and Eastern | | | |
|cape | | | |
|TOTAL |112 500 |108 000 |98 000 |
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2. "The invasive potential of commercially farmed Acacia species could be
substantially reduced by inducing sterility through gamma radiation of
seed or the production of triploids through chromosome doubling
techniques. Flowering in plants grown from irradiated seed can be
significantly reduced. In an effort to address the shortage of timber
in the country, the department supports the conversion of informal
stands/wattle into well managed plantations. Department of Water
Affairs (DWA) has a unit which is responsible for regulating Forestry
as Stream Flow Reduction. The unit is called Stream Flow Reduction
Activities (SFRA). SFRA has developed the yield enhancement
guidelines, meant for the purpose of guiding the conversion process on
a sustainable manner.
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3. Between 2000 and 2010, 176,345 ha of invasive Acacia mearnsii, Acacia
dealbata and Acacia decurrens (black, silver & green wattle,
respectively) were mechanically cleared by the Working for Water
programme at a cost of R326 million (Working for Water, unpublished
data). These figures do not include clearing between 1996 (when
Working for Water began) and 1999, clearing by other agencies and
firewood harvesting, so the clearing effort was definitely greater.
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4. In the case of Acacia species with economic benefits, only biological
control agents that do not damage vegetative plant parts have been
considered. Five species of seed weevils in the genus Melanterius
(which feed on ripening seed pods) and two species of cecidomyiid
flies that form flower-galls have been released. While the large seed
production and large existing seed banks mean that extremely high and
consistent damage rates over many seasons are required before the
densities of these species will be affected in the absence of other
control measures, reductions in seed production can reduce spread
rates.
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5. Commercial producers have agreed to the release of biological control
agents that limit seed production.
[pic]