Pest Status of Rodents in Wonji Sugarcane Plantation, Ethiopia

Serekebirhan Takele, Afework Bekele, Gurja Belay, M Balakrishnan

Abstract


An ecological study on pest status of rodents was carried out in Wonji Sugarcane Plantation during August 2005 -March 2006. To determine the damages made by rodents during different growth stages, three trapping grids wereselected from immature sugarcane plantations (ISP), young sugarcane plantations (YSP) and old sugarcaneplantations (OSP) randomly. A total of 285 captures was made in 2205 trap nights. These constituted eight speciesof rodents and two species of insectivores. The overall trap success was 12.9%. Variations in trap success at differentgrowth stages of the sugarcane plantations and seasons were significant. The pest status of rodents in the sugarcaneplantation was assessed at different seasons. The highest damage was recorded in YSP during wet season. Theaverage damage caused by rodents in the plantation was 4.0%. Analysis of the stomach contents of snap trappedrodents showed presence of sugarcane fibers confirming the pest status of rodents in the sugarcane plantation.

Keywords


Rodent pest, Trap success, Stomach contents, Sugarcane plantation, Ethiopia

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