Rodents- Threat to Horticulture

Growing your own vegetables is both fun and rewarding. Fresh, luscious vegetables nurtured with care in gardens, backyards, nurseries, vineyards undoubtedly beat the frozen stuff, adding both tastes as well as nutritive value to your food. However, it is an absolute nightmare when trees grown with so much care are damaged by some pesky little rodents.

Rodents damage the fruits, vegetables, and other products in many ways. The first type includes damage to seeds and seedlings in nurseries by rats and squirrels. The second type involves stunted growth and drying up of trees due to gnawing and nibbling of the roots of saplings and young trees. Such damage may occur in orchards of pecan, apple, peach, and other fruit crops. The third type is the main cause of loss and it involves damage to the fruits generally by the climbing and arboreal species like R. Rattus, R. r. Wroughton, R. r. andamanensis, F. pennanti, F. palmarum and F. tristriatus. Some fruits like the pomegranate and strawberries which may hang from their bushy plants close to the ground level are also attacked by the ground-dwelling rodents like T. indica, R. meltada, M. hurrianae and B. bengalensis.

Not only they produce, but rodents also chew holes on plastic pots and other horticultural tools. Rodents are blessed with two pairs of ever-growing incisors. In order to keep these incisors sharp and also to avoid their overgrowth, rodents need to constantly gnaw on hard objects. Polymeric applications in horticulture like plastic pots, gardening tools, trickle tube systems, wires in the movers, tillers top their snack list due to their smooth texture, the bright colors and the odor that they exude.

Let us have a look at the various effects of rodent damages to our horticultural produce and tools. Crop contamination due to rodents is one of the major undesirable effects of rodent attack. Damage to the trickle tube systems could result in loss of water and additional replacement and repair cost. Also, chewed wires are unsafe sites for electrical dangers. Breathing the air which is contaminated by rodent droppings, urine, and other secretion can result in spreading of dangerous viruses and diseases.

The results of a 2012 survey on wildlife damage by APHIS identified, damage caused by rodents as sixth on our overall list of horticulture crop predators. Also, it is estimated that about 50% of farm fires in the UK can be attributed to rats gnawing electrical cables, while a recent Bayer survey found rodent damage to seasonal machinery such as combine harvesters in the store can be a very costly problem.  

Let us have a look at some incidences of rodent damage in this sector:

  • Pest parrot search in Katikati
    February 4th 2016, TOI Moana

Rainbow lorikeets eat fruit and breed rapidly so they could cause serious crop damage and costs for orchard and vineyard owners.

  • Stink bugs a resilient foe for Mount Airy vineyards

Gazette. Net, USA

The Asian stink bug, an invasive pest with no natural predators to keep its numbers in check, has begun to invade Maryland vineyards after a summer of gorging its way through orchards, cornfields, and gardens.

  • Rabbit Damage to Trees and Shrubs

Horticulture & Home Pest News, USA

Deep snow and extended period of snow cover posed serious problems for rabbits. Denied access to food on the ground, rabbits fed extensively on small trees and shrubs that stuck above the snow.

It is high time to look into this problem of pest damage to the trees, vegetables, fruits etc. We just cannot afford to lose our produce. We need a solution to this problem.

We at C Tech Corporation have come up with a solution to this problem. Our product RodrepelTM is an extremely low toxic, non-hazardous rodent aversive. This product acts through a series of highly developed intricate mechanism ensuring that rodents are kept away from the target application. The product is compliant with RoHS, RoHS2, RoHS3, REACH, APVMA, NEA, EU-BPR, and FIFRA exempted. We do not aim at disturbing the ecosystem designed by nature. Our eco-friendly products do not kill the target species but only repel them.

Our products are available in form of solid masterbatches, liquid concentrate and lacquer form.

Our solid masterbatch can be incorporated in plastic pots, growing &transport trays, turfs, trickle tube systems etc. On the other hand, lacquer, sprays and liquid concentrate can be coated over the fencing, wooden support in the trellis system, raised beds, tree guard etc. to protect them from the pest attacks.

Contact us at technical.marketing@ctechcorporation.com and get the best remedies to combat the pest menace.

Also, visit our websites:

http://www.ctechcorporation.com/
http://www.rodrepel.com/
http://www.termirepel.com/
http://www.combirepel.com/

Follow our Facebook pages at:

1] https://www.facebook.com/Combirepel-411710912249274/
2] https://www.facebook.com/Termirepel-104225413091251/
3] https://www.facebook.com/Rodrepel-120734974768048/

Follow us on our Twitter pages at:

1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel