When it comes to water hyacinth, I believe everyone has more or less heard of some of its "deeds". After it was introduced to China, it once "occupied" the rivers, lakes and seas of the mainland, becoming one of the main invasive species on the mainland, spending a lot of money to clean up every year. But in Cambodia, its experience is very different. It has become a magic weapon for Cambodians to make a fortune.
Water hyacinth flooding
So why is water hyacinth so difficult to remove? And how did it become a wealth code?
The harm of water hyacinth is so great, why was it introduced in the first place?
Water hyacinth, scientific name phoenix blue, is native to Brazil. It was introduced by the mainland as early as 1901.
However, in everyone's impression, the water hyacinth is a bunch of green plants floating on the surface of the water in groups. Is there any need to introduce this green, pile-by-pile thing? Not really. The state of green plants is the state of no flowering.
Once the phoenix blue blooms, it will "flower as its name" blooms around the petals that are light blue, and the circle inside is dark blue, with a yellow spot in the center of the petal. Speaking of which, it's a bit like keeping an eye on it. Combine its color. There is indeed a literal meaning of phoenix blue. If you only look at the water hyacinth flowers, it is really quite beautiful.
Therefore, at the American Exposition in 1844, the water hyacinth was once described as "the lilac crown that beautified the world". Therefore, as an ornamental plant, water hyacinth began to be introduced and cultivated by various countries.
But unexpectedly, this opened Pandora's box. The lilac corolla that beautifies the world has become a dark green "army" that pollutes the water body.
I can't imagine that the plain-looking water hyacinth can produce flowers with good looks
Wild wild long
The reason why the water hyacinth has been quiet in Brazil is because there are natural enemies of the water hyacinth in Brazil, and the water hyacinth is only sporadically present in various water bodies in Brazil.
But with the introduction of water hyacinths to various countries, once the seal of natural enemies is gone, its amazing reproductive ability is fully released.
The axillary buds of water hyacinth are not like other plants, which can only develop into leaves or branches, but can develop into new plants, and its creeping branches (that is, branches that grow horizontally against the water surface) are very easy to break, and the creeping branches after breaking can also grow independently into new individuals, so the water hyacinth has a strong ability to reproduce asexually.
Once there is no food chain and food web constraints. Water hyacinth definitely lets you know what exponential growth is!
If it is only a strong growth, it is not a big deal. Moreover, as a green plant, water hyacinth judges the concentration of arsenic in the water body through its own growth, and purifies harmful substances such as mercury, cadmium, and lead in the water; And in the process of growth, it can absorb a large amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and some heavy metal elements in the water body.
But its harms are far more well-known than its benefits.
Water hyacinths obstruct navigation
First of all, it will block the channel, unlike ordinary water plants, the water hyacinth is a large piece of a long, and the stem is much stronger than some phytoplankton in the water. It can directly affect the navigation of ships.
Second, it destroys the original ecosystem of rivers and lakes. It will cause the indicators of the water body to be unbalanced, and eventually, the deteriorating water body is no longer suitable for the survival of the water hyacinth, and becomes a stagnant water with a foul smell. At this time, a large amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and some heavy metal elements absorbed by the water hyacinth during the growth process will be released again with the death of the water hyacinth. It is equivalent to absorbing a loneliness.
Finally, where the water hyacinth is overgrown, the fluidity of the water body will be reduced, so that the harmful substances in the water flow cannot be taken away by the water flow in time, thus affecting the water quality. It also breeds many mosquitoes and provides a breeding ground for germs such as schistosomiasis and encephalitis influenza.
Due to its extreme harm, water hyacinth is listed as one of the world's top 100 invasive alien species.
Turbid river water after water hyacinth flooding
The effectiveness of the measures is limited
As for the water hyacinth, we can only take a limited number of methods, directly using boats to crush them directly. Or use chemical reagents, but they can also contaminate water sources. The more reliable is biological control, that is, the method of playing a certain control effect by dropping the natural enemy of water hyacinth: the adult hyacinth.
If you want to prevent the flooding of phoenix blue from the source, you must prevent water pollution. Due to the improvement of the living standards of the people on the mainland, the discharge of domestic sewage has increased, and the content of organic matter in the sewage has been greatly improved, which provides an important source of nutrition for the growth of the phoenix blue, so to control the discharge of domestic sewage, as well as the orderly discharge of industrial and agricultural wastewater, it is really necessary to discharge it after being treated with pollution-free water.
But there is no doubt that it is a long job ...
Cambodia's waste has turned into treasure
In the face of the endless water hyacinth on the surface of the water, some people sighed. Cambodians see business opportunities.
They found that the rhizome part of the water hyacinth, if you dry this part of the water hyacinth, you will find that the dried water hyacinth rhizome is good in both toughness and hardness. It is a good compilation material.
Harvest removes the leaves by baling water hyacinths into bundles
So when Cambodia's water hyacinth floods on a large scale, cambodian people will take small boats to harvest one piece after another of water hyacinth, and they will cut off all the leaves of the water hyacinth, leaving only the rhizome part. And according to their thickness and length, they are simply classified and then dried.
Skillful Cambodian women weave these sun-dried rhizomes into many handicrafts. For example, coasters, bags, tubes for storage, etc.; In addition, the able women spliced together thick and long rhizomes to make larger carpets and cushions and sold them on the market.
Although these handmade items are not produced at a high rate. But fortunately, these items are durable, affordable, and after the preparation of some skilled craftsmen, the appearance of these crafts is also relatively capable, plus this raw material not only does not cost money, but basically how much, just need to collect it.
After collection, it only needs to be simply dried, rinsed and baked and sterilized to be used, and there is almost no processing cost. As a result, many Cambodians have worked hard to get rich by water hyacinths that are not welcome in other countries.
Even, these handicrafts have also gone abroad and exported overseas. Many tourists from abroad to Cambodia will also bring such inexpensive small items as souvenirs.
Can the mainland learn from it?
Since Cambodia has already thought of a way to deal with water hyacinth, can we learn from it and carry out similar handicraft processing? Or transporting China's flooded water hyacinth to Cambodia?
Unfortunately, it is difficult to analyze from the different national conditions of the two countries.
First, the mainland's light industry is much more developed than Cambodia's. Now open the e-commerce platform, all kinds of similar weaving handicrafts are available, and the price is not high. 9.9 Free shipping is not in the minority.
The raw materials on the industrial production line are screened and specially used for weaving, if the stem of the water hyacinth is really so suitable for weaving, then the water hyacinth has been introduced to China for more than 100 years, how can no one find, and artificially breed the water hyacinth?
And the water hyacinth is so vigorous, so good to raise, if the real water hyacinth is suitable for weaving materials, I am afraid that someone has already begun to artificially cultivate it. Therefore, the quality of industrial products with better raw materials is also better than Cambodia's handmade products, making water hyacinths famous in the industry.
Moreover, from raw materials to production and sales, this process is quite mature. And supply and demand are also close to equilibrium. If new products do not have strong price and quality advantages, it is difficult to open up the situation in the existing market.
So if I don't carry out large-scale industrial production, do I do it myself? First of all, a little industrial production speed crushes your manual production speed, even if people come to buy you, you will lose a lot of orders because your speed can't keep up.
Finally, if you make a few of your own, or sell them on a small scale. It's not a big problem, but if you want to make a fortune with it, even if you can't beat the current assembly line. If so, weaving water hyacinth at home, it is better to go into the factory and tighten the screws.
Although sea transport is relatively cheap, it is also difficult for the Cambodian people to bear
In addition, the flooding of water hyacinths on the mainland, transported to Cambodia and other countries, this road is estimated to have great resistance, Cambodia through this road to let some people live a good life is not false, one of the big reasons is: Cambodia's water hyacinth is free, want to harvest as much as you want.
Cambodia's domestic water hyacinths may not be able to run out, and there is no need to bring in more from abroad.
Second, we transport the water hyacinth to Cambodia, hire someone to harvest it costs, transport to Cambodia more cost, this is to let the Cambodian people pay money to buy raw materials? Even if the selling price rises by a large margin, the original low price advantage will be gone.
Therefore, Cambodia's success may be an opportunity after the combination of time, location, people and various factors, and other countries want to replicate it is not so easy to achieve. If our country wants to deal with water hyacinth, it still needs to reduce water pollution and treat sewage before discharging.