Cactus in Uganda
They’ve found that cactus help keep ticks away from livestock. I’m not really sure how this works, but here’s the evidence.
Researchers at the National Agriculture Research Institute (Naro), who have been undertaking a study on effective control of ticks using botanical solutions, said the cactus shrub has spikes which put off ticks from climbing farm fences to bite animals.
No species name. It’s not even clear to me if they mean an actual cactus, or a spiny shrub that they call the cactus shrub.
Scientists found that ticks do not like the cactus because animals naturally do not go near the plants, but also due to their spikes that make their environment uncomfortable.
But the veterinarians have found that when crushed and mixed in water, spraying it on animals kills all the ticks just like conventional acaricides.
Now that is really interesting. If only it would work on aphids, too.
