Use of geese for weed control in paddy and upland fields
2012
Takayama, K. | Mizoguchi, Y. | Fukunaga, D. | Nakanishi, Y.
The objective of this study was to obtain fundamental information on the effective use of geese for sustainable vegetation management of agricultural land. A survey was conducted to determine the influence of free-ranging geese injury to paddy, barley and vegetables on weed control in paddy and upland fields. The results obtained were as follows: 1) In the paddy fields, free-ranging goslings (Anser cygnoides domesticus) frequently grazed the paddy plants, with the percentage of gosling injury to the paddy at 94% by the 4th day. 2) In barley fields, free-ranging geese (A. anser domesticus) exhibited grazing behaviour against barley leaves and ears, and the grazing frequency for barley by geese occupied 12% of total number of plant species grazed immediately after free-ranging. 3) In the vegetable fields, free-ranging geese (A. anser domesticus) grazed green soybean, okura, corn, eggplant, sweet potato and mini tomato, however, they did not eat taro and bell pepper at all. These results indicated that the use of free-ranging geese for weed control in the fields of taro and bell pepper was feasible, though their use in the fields of paddy, barley, green soybean, okura, corn, eggplant, sweet potato and mini tomato was infeasible.
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