Sosnovsky hogweed

Hogweed was originally cultivated as a silage plant, but it began to grow in the wild as well. One central inflorescence of the plant produces approximately 20,000 seeds, which are pollinated not only by insects, but also by themselves. In both cases, the seeds are viable, so a single plant can yield an entire population. In addition, seeds can spread very far, but most often new plants appear next to the mother's.

• Stem: furrowed-ribbed, rough
• Leaves: large triplicate or pinnate, yellowish-green, 1.4-1.9 m long
• Inflorescence: large (up to 50-80 cm in diameter) complex umbrella, consisting of 30-75 rays, white or pink flowers
• Flowering: July to August, fruits ripen July to September

Contains furanocoumarins - poisonous substances that, when interacting with sunlight, can cause the strongest long-term non-healing burns

2023: How digitalization of agricultural machinery in Russia helps fight hogweed

On August 23, 2023, Galileosky announced the introduction of its satellite monitoring terminals in agricultural machinery in the Perm Territory to combat hogweed. In particular, the devices are installed on mowers with tractors for clearing fields. Read more here.

2022: Control of sites in the Moscow region through the application "Checks of the Moscow Region"

In the mobile application "Checks of the Moscow Region," more than 13 thousand sites were taken under control, where Sosnovsky's hogweed was identified. The Ministry of State Administration announced this on June 20, 2022. Read more here.

History of aggression

• 1947 - the beginning of growing Sosnovsky hogweed as a feed crop (for silage) in the central and northern regions of the country
• 50-60s of the twentieth century - mass cultivation of Sosnovsky hogweed in the farms of the Non-Black Earth Region (north and center of the European part of Russia)
• The 90s of the twentieth century are the massive desolation of agricultural land in the non-chernozem zone, associated with a reduction in subsidies to agricultural enterprises and a general crisis in agriculture.
• 20.04.2012 Sosnovsky hogweed was removed from the State Register of Breeding Achievements Admitted to Use in the Russian Federation as having lost its economic usefulness.
• Since 01.01.2015, seeds and green mass of Sosnovsky hogweed have been excluded from the All-Russian product classifier OK 005-93.
• In November 2015, an amendment was made to the Industry Classification of Weed Plants No. 384 021 310, according to which the Sosnovsky hogweed (Heraculum Sosnovskyi Manden) is included in it: section "Dicotyledonous perennial root-hearth," code 5500.
• Hogweed was occupied by 17,067,1 hectares of the Moscow Region^[1], according to data for 2016. Therefore, combating it is an important task in the agricultural industry. In some regions, fines of up to a million rubles are provided for legal entities that do not "clean" their territories from hogweed.

Notes