Alien Invasive Weeds of North Eastern States of India: Ecology, Distribution and Management

North East India with a full spectrum of geographical diversity is rich with a variety of vegetation types, enriching the biodiversity, ecology and economy of the
region. It is the cynosure of the world as one of the mega biodiversity centres or a global biodiversity hotspot. This region is threatened by some common invasive
weeds viz., Mimosa spp., Mikania micrantha, Parthenium hysterophorus, Eichornia crassipes, Eupatorium odoratum, Lantana camara etc. Rapid colonization and
extreme adaptability of the invasives threatening the biodiversity, agricultural yields, trade, development plans, infrastructure and even biological health of the region. In fact, all the invasive weeds present in the region are distributed among all the agricultural and forest ecosystems including barren lands. Mikania micrantha is of significant importance in Tea ecosystems. Like wise, Mimosa spp in Kaziranga is of major significance. Mechanical and chemical methods of weeding are common practices but with a very limited range of success. Assessment of possible residual effect of herbicides in plant and soil warrant development of cost effective and environment friendly control measures. Microbes as weed control agent is anticipated to get more focus in future with the general upsurge of interest in biological control. A strict plan for exploiting exotic pathogens as classical biological control (CBC) agents and indigenous mycoherbicide developed for these weeds in a sustainable and inexpensive manner is the need of the hour.