Obstructive non-woven fiber barriers for reducing red-winged blackbird damage to sweet corn
2004
Curtis, P.D. | Rowland, E.D. | Jensen, P.G. | Hoffmann, M.P.
Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus L.) annually destroy substantial amounts of sweet corn (Zea mays L.) during the summer. No-choice feeding trials were conducted to assess the efficacy of spraying sweet corn ears with obstructive polymer fibers (ethylene vinyl acetate, EVA) as a means of reducing damage by blackbirds. Experiments were conducted with captive blackbirds and standing sweet corn between 18 September and 10 October 1997 and 1998. Relative to control ears, fiber treatment reduced the percentage of ears with husk damage by 10-12% (P<0.03), and kernel damage by 10-11% (P< or = 0.01). However, once birds had penetrated the husk, the percentage of kernels lost was similar for fiber-treated and control ears. Currently, this technique is not cost effective. However, with improvements in application of this technology, obstructive non-woven EVA fibers could reduce bird damage to sweet corn and other crops, and may compliment existing integrated pest management techniques.
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