The Current Problem
Pueraria montana, commonly known as Kudzu, once introduced into an environment kills other vegetation and takes over a landscape. According to Bergmann, (2016), “Kudzu kills surrounding plants by suffocating them under a cover of its leaves, encompassing the area with woody stems and tree trunks, and breaking branches or evacuating entire trees and shrubs.” Not only does Kudzu kill plant life around it; it also grows at an alarming rate of about one foot per day. Mature vines can grow to about 60 - 100 feet in length and spreads by vines that stem at the nodes to arrange new plants (Bergmann, 2009). The researcher proposed several solutions aimed at destroying, limiting growth, or creating a new market for controlled use.
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In fact, the state of Georgia has established laws regarding Kudzu. House Bill 1190 – addresses Kudzu and its vines spreading on adjoining property. “A BILL to amend Chapter 6 of Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to forest resources and other plant life, so as to provide that any person who owns real property on which a kudzu vine is growing and who allows such kudzu vine to spread to the property of an adjoining property owner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and for other purposes guilty of a misdemeanor (HB-1190 – 2000 …show more content…
One study discovered that the huge quantity of starchy material in the roots of kudzu might possibly be gathered from an invaded area and handled. One kudzu field can theoretically yield sums of ethanol equivalent to maize harvested from a field of the same spread. The study demanded that not only would generating a market for the farming of kudzu decrease the degree of invasion, but would also fuel the agricultural economy of the Southeast. However, there are many obstacles to the application of this notion, beginning with the lack of technology for the harvesting of kudzu roots. Also, kudzu’s standing as a harmful weed as well as its recognizable unfavorable results on the ecosystem would prove to be meaningful obstructions to the constant use of kudzu as