It is a source of firewood and bean poles and its foliage can be used as an animal feed. In Australia M. pigra poses a threat to the cattle industry as it invades buffalo pasture. It also restricts access to waterways for humans, particularly fishermen. Control In Australia Neotropical biological control agents are being actively investigated as classical introductions while chemical control is used to contain the spread and eradicate new infestations. Aerial spraying of gelled gasoline followed by fire kills stands of M. pigr a and soil surface seeds, however it enhances buried seed germination.
Effective control is difficult because of the large soil seed bank.
In the floodplains of northern Australia there are no woody plants present. The main difference appears to be habitat availability. In northern Australia large treeless floodplains exist which doe not appear to be the case in tropical America. A comparison of phytophagous insect fauna between Australia and Mexico showed that in the invaded region there were fewer insect species, more species were polyphagous and fewer feed externally. In Mexico many insects feed on new growth and inside the reproductive structures but such damage was not observed in Australia.