South Australian researchers are testing methods to control gazanias, an invasive plant threatening farming land and native ecosystems. Trials involving deep soil cultivation and herbicides have shown promise in managing the weed spread across Australia since its introduction as a garden plant in the 1950s and 1970s. The Grains Research and Development Corporation has invested $700,000 into a three-year project to find effective solutions for gazanias, with researchers hopeful that new chemical treatments may be registered within the next year or two.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
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Story summary
Gazanias, an invasive plant introduced from South Africa as an ornamental garden flower, are threatening farming lands and native environments across South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland. Researchers at La Trobe University in Loxton, South Australia, have been conducting trials to control gazanias using a combination of cultivation methods and herbicide sprays, with promising results. These efforts aim to mitigate the economic losses caused by gazanias in grain production systems and prevent their spread into native ecosystems. With recent heavy rainfall aiding crop growth but also facilitating gazania proliferation, researchers are optimistic about developing new chemical solutions that could be registered for farmers' use within the next few years.
Written for “Gazania Eradication Efforts” on 2026-09-17,
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In short:
The spread of gazanias from gardens is threatening valuable farming land and destroying native environments.
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spread → threaten → environments
Trials to control the invasive pest plant in South Australia, using sprays and cultivation, have demonstrated strong results.
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Trials → control → results
Researchers are hopeful new chemical solutions to tackle gazanias can be registered for farmers to use in the next few years.
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farmers → tackle → years
More rainfall across South Australia, yielding one of the best cropping seasons on record for farmers, has also helped to spread of one of their worst enemies: gazanias.
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rainfall → yield → enemies
Introduced from South Africa in the 1950s and 1970s as an ornamental garden plant, gazanias are a declared weed in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland.
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gazanias → introduce → Australia
Researchers from La Trobe University have been conducting trials on farms in South Australia's Riverland at Loxton and on the Eyre Peninsula at Arno Bay to understand the pest plant's biology and how to control it.
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Researchers → conduct → it
"Despite being so beautiful, [gazanias] cost us daily in terms of economic yield losses in grain production systems,"project lead Ali Bajwa said.
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Bajwa → cost → production
"[They] are also spreading into some desirable native ecosystems where we have some species that are high value from [a] conservation point of view.
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that → spread → view
"
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has invested $700,000 into the three-year project, with earlier work revealing the extensive spread of the weed across southern Australia and parts of Western Australia.
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work → invest → Australia
Dr Bajwa said the best results in managing gazanias had been a combination of cultivation, which means using machinery to rip deeply into the soil to pull out the weeds, and then spraying herbicide mixtures, with some farmers using video-sensor technology.
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farmers → say → technology
"While cultivation is not desirable in these soil types and the sort of erosion risk or other environmental factors that can come with that, if we use it strategically once in a while that can potentially be a good option," he said.
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he → come → while
Dr Bajwa said there was no registered product to control gazanias, with farmers using a mixture of herbicides to fight them.
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farmers → say → them
"We're getting some very good results and hopefully within [the] next year or two we could be potentially seeing some minor use permits or potential registrations for this particular weed," he said.
uncertain
he → get → weed
Ripping at the roots
Gazanias have rendered some of Loxton farmer Paul Rudiger's paddocks unviable for cropping, which is a blow amid a great season following years of drought.
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which → rip → drought
"The crop, the cereal we sow around them will actually die because with their [the gazanias'] root system they take all the moisture," he said.
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he → sow → moisture
While cultivation was intensive on the land and expensive to perform, Mr Rudiger said it was controlling the pest weeds enough to allow his crop to grow.
"
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crop → perform → weeds
It's a cost and something that we would rather not do but because we can kill a gazania I'm happy to see a dead gazania,"he said.
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I → do → gazania,"he
Up the road, Paul Kaesler is using cultivation and sprays to get rid of gazanias at the farm his family has worked for more than a century.
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family → use → century
While Mr Kaesler is pleased the trials have yielded promising results, he is concerned that approvals for new herbicides are taking too long.
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approvals → please → herbicides
"I think that needs to speed up in some way or another or else they will be across the whole state before everyone knows," he said.
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he → think → state
In the interim, he said it was important the public adhered to restrictions banning the sale and movement of gazanias in South Australia.
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public → say → Australia
"We still have people come through and go, 'Oh, I'm going to put them in my garden,'" Mr Kaesler said.
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Kaesler → have → garden
"Yes, they look pretty and wonderful but they're more of a pest than they are a prettiness."
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they → look → pest
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