The State Duma approved a plan for the war against hogweed: Russians will be forced to fight weeds

For desertion from the battlefield against pest plants, a fine of up to 700 thousand rubles will be imposed.

Enough with the hogweed, the Duma members decided and decided to strike first. “If we don’t take care of hogweed today, tomorrow it will take care of us,” said deputy Timofey Bazhenov. The State Duma approved in the first reading the plan for combating the noxious weed. The front line is all of Russia. The army is the owner of the land that the plant has annexed. For refusing to fight there is a fine.

“And we won’t like it very much,” Timofey Bazhenov (ER) assured his colleagues in the ward, describing in vivid colors the consequences of inaction regarding Sosnovsky’s hogweed, “There are quiet poisons – you die and you won’t notice.” And the hogweed will be sent to the bed of a burn center.

The deputies were interested in why only hogweed. There are a lot of green foreign agents – invasive plants alien to our region – in Russia. Take for example the same maple. It looks like an ash-leaved one. And if you look closely at it, it’s American (in botany this tree has a double name).

Its pollen causes serious attacks in allergy sufferers. The maple grows quickly and dissipates on its own.

“Large cities were actually actively planted with American maple in the 60s and 70s,” agreed Timofey Bazhenov. But he urged his colleagues not to rush. And if you want to open a second front, then there are still many poisonous plants: Caucasian ash, castor bean. Well, hogweed.

The co-author of the bill on combating invasive plants, Vladimir Samokish (ER), said that where there were empty swamps several years ago, a jungle of hogweed has now grown. But there are no exact statistics on how much land in the country is overgrown with them.

About 40 regions gave an approximate answer: yes, it is growing here, and this is a problem.

So it’s not yet possible to even calculate how much it will cost to fight hogweed. Namely, the financial component of the struggle worried Alexei Kurinny (Communist Party of the Russian Federation).

“Let’s switch to diesel fuel,” suggested Bazhenov, “9 liters of diesel fuel are needed per hectare of cultivation.”

The head of the Agrarian Committee of the State Duma, Vladimir Kashin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), looked at his colleagues with the despondency of a professional and in the end could not stand it:

– Hogweed is the fruit of mismanagement! “Whoever wants to have clean fields has them,” said the deputy. And at the same time he recalled the history of the fight against hogweed. It has been going on for several years within the walls of the State Duma alone. At one time, the chamber issued two resolutions.

Ultimately, the Duma members passed the bill unanimously in the first reading (378 votes in favor). Now the Land Code will state that hogweed is an alien plant.

An obligation is established for the rights holders of all land plots, regardless of the category of land use, to combat pest plants, in particular Sosnovsky’s hogweed. Failure to comply will result in fines: for citizens – from 20 to 50 thousand, for legal entities – from 400 to 700 thousand.

– Hogweed is an alien and dangerous plant, and it spreads very quickly, killing everything that grows nearby. The economy, nature and people are harmed. Fields and roadsides are overgrown with hogweed; it has already penetrated into populated areas. According to the most conservative estimates, in the Central Federal District and in the northwestern regions of Russia, hogweed has taken over more than 300 thousand hectares, – co-author of the amendments, member of the State Duma Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises Alexei Govyrin (ER) told MK, – They are fighting against hogweed, but efforts clearly not enough. And, in my opinion, one of the key reasons is the position of land owners. Not only private landowners, but also legal entities and municipalities. The peculiarity of hogweed is that if your neighbor gives up and does nothing, then your fight against hogweed will not yield results.