REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Abstract

Since the detection of the golden apple snail (Pomacea spp.) in Sabah in

1992, the Department of Agriculture, Sabah(DOA, Sabah) immediately

launched a control operation to contain the new rice pest. Various control

measures incorporating the principles of integrated pest management(IPM)

were implemented in the snail-infested districts. A Task Force was set up to

carry out the control operation and to monitor pest outbreak. At the district

level, the Agriculture Extension and the farmers implemented the control

measures recommended by DOA, Sabah. The IPM package consisted of

handpicking through community efforts ('gotong royong'), application of tea

seed powder or pellets of metaldehyde, installation of wire mesh screens to

filter the snail in the irrigation system, duck herding as a form of biological

control, dry ploughing, keeping the field dry during off planting season, the use

of older seedlings and water depth management, sanitation of farm

machineries, distribution of snail leaflets to the farming public, putting up of

posters and sign board at strategic locations and conducting briefing/dialogue

sessions with the farmers. The control measures were supported and

upgraded through new research findings on the pest whilst the effectiveness of

the control operation was assessed by conducting a census on the snail

population density using a Im-quadrat during every preplanting season. Prior

population density greater than 5 snails/m' was 31.5% and 68% for areas with

less than 5 snails/m'. After IPM was implemented the percentage of the total

infested areas with pest population density greater than and less than 5

snails/m' was 18.4% and 81.6% respectively. There was no significant crop

damage and rapid spread of the pest following the implementation of the

control measures.

(http://www.agris.upm.edu.my:8080/dspace/handle/0/14266)

General Information

Barringtonia is a large evergreen tree with a dense, spreading canopy that

casts a good shade; it can grow up to 20 metres tall. The bole, which is usually

short and poorly formed, can be 100 - 150cm in diameter.

The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source

of wood. It is often planted for shade along boulevards and avenues by the sea.

The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species(2013).

Known Hazards

The fruit is toxic. The fresh fruit is used for stupefying fish.

Range
Around the shores of the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Madagascar, Asia,

Australia, Pacific Islands.

Habitat

Almost exclusively littoral, it is found on sandy beaches or coral-sand flats,

along rivers or in mangrove swamp at about sea-level. Trees sometimes

grow further inland on calcareous hills or cliffs at elevations up to 350 metres.

Cultivation Details

Grows best in a fertile, humid, well-drained soil. Prefers a position in full

sun or light shade. Established plants are fairly drought tolerant. Plants are

very tolerant of saline conditions and salt laden winds. Plants thrive in the wild

where their roots dabbling in the brackish waters of lagoons, inlets, estuaries

and seasonally flooded coastal regions.

The plant flowers almost all year round, producing seeds for about 8

months of the year in Fiji. The lightly fragrant flowers open in the evening and

tempt pollinating bats with their abundant pollen. Mature trees yield about 500

- 2,000 fruits per year. Plants are not very tolerant of fire. The fruit is light and

buoyant, allowing it to float in sea water and get carried great distances, thus

explaining the trees very wide distributio.

Edible Uses
 The young fruits are cooked for a long time and then eaten as a vegetable

in Indo-China, despite them also being used as a fish poison. The oily seed is

toxic.

Medicinal

A decoction of the leaves is used to treat hernia.

The leaves are heated and externally applied for stomach-ache. Fresh leaves

are applied topically to bring relief from rheumatism and to treat sores.

The fruits are applied externally as a treatment for sores. The toxic seeds are

employed as a vermifuge. Although toxic, the dried nut is ground, mixed with

water and drunk to treat coughs, influenza, sore throat and bronchitis. Used

externally, the fresh nut is scraped and applied directly to wounds and sores. It

is also applied to a swollen spleen after an attack of malaria.

A decoction of the bark is used to treat constipation and epilepsy.

The bark is used externally for treating sores.

In tests, the leaf material of this species was active against some tumours.

Other Uses

The dried fruits are used as floats. The yellowish to red wood is light, soft

and easy to split. It is used for making furniture.

Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. About 70% of the seed germinates in 36

- 63 days Cuttings.

(http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Barringtonia+asiatica)

Use of Rotten Jackfruit to Control Golden Apple Snail

The Golden Snail or Apple snail (Pomaceae sp.) is a major rice pest in a

number of Asian countries, including Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and

Indonesia. If these pests are not controlled they can cause devastating

damage to rice crops, thus incurring huge losses to farmers.

The adult snails cut the young paddy seedlings or tillers that are less than

21 days old, thus hindering the tillering of the young paddy. Attacks mainly

take place during the night. The signs of the attack are the cut paddy tillers

floating in the water, and the bare patches in the crop. Attacks tend to be

worse in areas where the water is more than 1 cm deep, or in stagnant water.

To control the snails is difficult and costly. The snails are prolific, and females

may lay 2000 - 3000 eggs in one year. No natural predator is known, and the

use of pesticides may kill other types of beneficial snails and aquatic

organisms.
 Current measures to control the snails are quarantine action, and

collecting and destroying eggs and adults, as well as introducing ducks to feed

on the snails. Sometimes the snails aregathered in the field, crushed and fed to

penned ducks.

In Malaysia, farmers control the snails simply by using rotten jackfruit as a

bait. This method has proved to be highly successful (Fig. 1(658) and Fig.

2(0)).

The Technology

 Collect the rotten jackfruit to be used as a bait. Try and collect freshly

rotted fruits which have a strong smell.

 Choose a suitable spot and put the bait out. Be careful not to submerge the

bait. The chosen spot should be a place with running water, populated with

golden snails. It should also be a place where it is easy for you to collect the

snails.

 Leave the bait overnight and inspect the spot every morning.

 Collect the snails which have gathered on and around the jackfruit, and

destroy them (Fig. 3(0)).

 Replace the rotten jackfruit with new bait when necessary.

Merits of the Technology

and can be integrated with other control measures.

(http://www.fftc.agnet.org/library.php?func=view&style=type&id=20110902

151450&fbclid=IwAR3LKp3KCzmkb4tKoLCsySu3Pf289SB0tC2YiJHcQgsgIjEoZl

UVc62ITHo)

Where seen?

This tree with large waxy leaves, stunning pinkish pom-pom flowers and

square fruits is now widely planted in our coastal parks. It is sometimes seen

growing wild in our back mangroves. Elsewhere, it grows in a wide range of

coastal habitats from coastal forest, shores, sandy to rocky coasts and

occasionally in mangroves.

Features:

A small to medium sized tree (7-30m tall). Bark pinkish grey, smooth

becoming rough and thick in older trees. It may have buttressed roots.

Leaves oval (20-30cm long), waxy glossy somewhat fleshy, edge smooth

(not toothed). Young leaves may be pinkish olive with pink veins. Older leaves

wither yellow or pale orange.

Flowers very showy with four white petals and lots of fine, pink-tipped

stamens forming a pom-pom shape (10-15cm). According to Corners "the

buds beging to swell at noon, but the petals and stamens do not unfold until

nearly sunset when the heavy perfume becomes noticeable". By sunrise the

next day, the entire circle of stamens and petals fall off the tree. Corners says,
"The ring of stamens floating downstream and the stale perfume of the night

used to be a morning feature of Malayan rivers".

According to Tomlinson, the night-blooming flowers are pollinated by

night-flying animals. According to Hugh Tan, they are pollinated by bats.

According to Corners, the flowers are "evidently pollinated by moths, attracted

by the scent and hovering in front of the flowers and probing into them with

long tongues, they dust the pollen on their bodies".

Fruit large (8-10cm) squarish, fibrous and contains 1-2 seeds oblong

(4-5cm long). The fruit floats and the softer outer layers rot in the water, so

the fruit is stranded on a faraway shore as a fibrous basket surrounding the

seed. It is the food plant for moth larvae of Dasychira spp. and Thyas

honesta.

Human uses:

The tree contains a toxin called saponin, concentrated mainly in the seeds

but also found in other parts. According to Burkill, the fruits are used as a fish

poison. They are pulped and thrown into the river to stun fish. According to

Wee, the heated leaves are used in the Philippines to treat stomache and

rheumatism and the seeds used to get rid of tapeworms. According to Giesen,

juice from the seeds are used to seal paper umbrellas and to kill lice and other

external parasites.

Status and threats:

plants of Singapore.

Heritage Tree:

There is one Putat laut with Heritage Tree status. It is at the Singapore

Botanic Gardens, Healing Garden and has a girth of 3m and is 10m tall.

(http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/plants/coastal/barringtonia/asiatica.

htm)

Barringtonia asiatica has many medicinal uses and its wood is used

to construct boats and huts

Barringtonia asiatica (Poison Fish Tree, Fish-killer Tree, Beach Barringtonia,

Sea Poison Tree, Box Fruit, Putat Gajah/Laut in Malay)

Backaches and sore joints can be treated using its bark, leaves and fruits.

Rheumatism can be treated using the fresh leaves while their juices are used

to treat diarrhoea.

Intestinal worms can also be expelled by ingesting the seeds. The wood is used

to construct boats and huts.

Plant Profile, Culture and Propagation :

Barringtonia asiatica (syn.: Barringtonia speciosa, Barringtonia asiatica).

Common Names:

Poison Fish Tree, Fish-killer Tree, Beach Barringtonia, Sea Poison Tree,

Box Fruit, Putat Gajah/Laut in Malay.

Family name:

Lecythidaceae.

Etymology:

The genus Barringtonia was named in honour of Hon. Daines Barrington

(1727-1800). The specific epithet asiatica asian: referring to the natural

distribution of the plant.

Origin:

Native to Tropical Africa, Madagascar, India, Indochina, Taiwan, Malaysia,

Singapore, northern Australia and the Pacific Islands.

It is cultivated elsewhere around the globe.

Plant type:

An ornamental and perennial tree.

Features:
 Barringtonia asiatica is from the genus, Barringtonia that comprises of 57

accepted species. It is a small to medium-sized tree with a rounded crown that

grows between 7-25 m tall. The unbuttressed trunk has pinkish-grey bark.

Fruit produced as mentioned earlier, is otherwise aptly known as the Box Fruit,

due to distinct square like diagonals jutting out from the cross section of the

fruit, given its semi spherical shape form from stem altering to a subpyramidal

shape at its base.

The fruit measures 9-11 cm in diameter, where a thick spongy fibrous

layer covers the 4-5 cm diameter seed.

The fruit is dispersed in the same way as a coconut by ocean current and is

extremely water-resistant and buoyant. It can survive afloat for up to fifteen

years.

Its leaves are narrow obovate, 20-40 cm long and 10-20 cm wide.

The spirally arranged, stalkless leaves possess leathery leaf blades that are

shiny dark green, drop-shaped. Its fresh leaves are pinkish-olive with distinct

pink veins and wither yellow to pale orange. Its large pinkish-white and

pompon flowers give off a sickly sweet smell to attract bats and moths which

pollinate the flowers at night. Its flowering shoots are up to 31 cm long, found

at the ends of branches and more or less upright, unlike the hanging ones

typical of other Barringtonia species.

Its stalked flowers are bisexual, 15-cm wide and appear fluffy because of

the presence of numerous, white, pink-tipped stamens.

for the nocturnal animal pollinators.

Its 1-2-seeded fruits are 7-10 cm wide with a broad square base tapering

to two rounded sepals. The fruits mature from green to brown. They hang

from branches and have a tough, corky-fibrous husk that aids in their dispersal

by water. Its seeds are oblong and 4-5 cm long.

Culture (Care): Barringtonia asiatica or Poison Fish grows easily with the

least maintenance.

Light: Full sun to semi-shade.

Moisture: Moderate water needs.

Soil: Humus-enriched and well-drained soils.

Others: All parts of the tree is poisonous. Seed is poisonous if ingested.

The seeds have been used ground to a powder to stun or kill fish for easy

capture suffocating the fish where the flesh is unaffected. Generally free from

serious garden pests and diseases.

For subtropical and temperate regions: Hardiness: USDA Zone 10b-11.

Barringtonia asiatica or Poison Fish is a very critically endangered species. Best

to grow in a large container to easily overwinter indoors or in a greenhouse

with good lighting.

Propagation: Easily propagated from seeds or by stem cuttings.

of Dasychira spp. and Thyas honesta. Fruit bats and night-flying moths are

attracted to its flowers and act as pollinators. The cooked fruits to remove the

saponins are edible. Backaches and sore joints can be treated using the bark,

leaves and fruits. Rheumatism can be treated using the fresh leaves while their

juices are used to treat diarrhoea. Intestinal worms can also be expelled by

ingesting the seeds. The wood is used to construct boats and huts.

(https://www.jaycjayc.com/barringtonia-asiatica-poison-fish-tree/#.XRIf5

ugzbIU)