NINE MSN (Australia) 11 February 06 Desperately seeking ugly cane toads
Darwin's unique new fertiliser made from unloved cane toads is facing an unexpected hitch - experts can't find enough of the warty pests.
A trial batch of Australia's first toad juice has been hailed such a success, organic fertiliser producer Moeco says it wants another 14 tonnes of dead cane toads to market it commercially.
The toad extract - said to be great on banana and paw paw plants - was conceived as a way of disposing of hundreds of thousands of rotting cane toad carcasses as the pest invades Darwin.
"The quantity we have got now, it's not enough to even think about a label," Moeco managing director Dean Walkley said.
"We need about 5,000 to 10,000 litres which is about six to 14 tonnes (of dead toads) to make it commercial.
"This could be a problem, since it took about three months to collect 200kg (for the trial).
"When you start talking these sort of tonnes that becomes a problem."
FrogWatch says an army of thousands of cane toads has begun to circle Darwin, with nearby Palmerston already inundated.
Cane toads were brought to Australia in 1935 in a failed attempt to control sugar cane beetles.
First released in Queensland, they have since multiplied and marched across Australia, poisoning millions of native animals, including crocodiles in world heritage listed Kakadu.
FrogWatch coordinator Paul Cowdy is urging residents to stop killing toads by putting them in freezers, and to drop them off to live collection bins set up by the organisation so they can be mulched up for fertiliser.
"We need significantly more cane toads," Mr Cowdy said.
He said the group also was considering sourcing toads from other towns battling the pest, such as Jabiru in Kakadu, Batchelor and possibly even north Queensland.
In the meantime, Mr Walkley said the company would process the toads as they arrive in "dribs and drabs".
"We will mix the toad fertiliser with fish emulsion and call it just a tad," he said.
Desperately seeking ugly cane toads