Controlul soarecilor in camp

[Note: this year we will start posting in both English and Romanian on various subjects.]

credit: Michael S. Quinton

Substratul de turba, rumegus, mulcirea cu folie de plastic sau tocatura de lemn, sunt modalitati perfecte prin care soarecele isi poate sapa galerii si se poate adapostii. Soarecele de camp sapa galerii in substratul de plantare, roade radacinile arbustilor, tulpina, crengile care coboara pana la sol si fructele.  Desi sunt active tot anul, atacul rozatoarelor se face simtit in special de toamna tarziu pana primavera la intrarea in vegetatie. In perioada de repaus, plantele au stocate zaharuri care sunt deasemenea ravnite de animale. In aceasi perioada trebuie atentie la iepuri si caprioare. Daca acestea pot fi tinute la distanta printr-un gard des, inalt si partial ingropat, soarecii prin dimensiunile si capacitatea de a se reproduce (9-13 fatari pe an, a cate 4-8 pui fiecare) reprezinta o provocare mult mai mare.

O modalitate de control este folosirea otravii. Fosfura de zinc, de aluminiu, de magneziu, sau altele, in modul recomandat de comerciant. O problema care apare este pericolul la care sunt supuse alte mamifere, cainele nostru in acest caz, pe care il iubim mai mult decat alte mamifere pe care le otravim. Repelentul pe care otrava il contine nu este o garantie ca cainii si pisicii nu vor manca iar ingerarea de soareci otraviti este tot o modalitate de intoxicare. Substantele otravitoare se manevreaza doar cu manusi si se inched in statii de intoxicare care au gaura de acces doar pentru soareci. Aceste statii de intoxicare se pot cumpara impreuna cu subst otravitoare sau se pot improviza dintr-o cutie din plastic cu gauri de acces peste care se aseaza o greutate care sa impiedice accesul altor animale la otrava.

Astefel se iau in considerare si metodele complementare. Intretinerea benzii de iarba dintre randuri si incurajarea prezentei rapitoarelor sunt la fel de eficiente si necesare.

Se recomanda ca iarba dintre randuri sa fie in permanenta tunsa, creind un spatiu de expunere la rapitoare. Unii cultivator prefera prelucrarea in ogor negru distrugand asfel galeriile soarecilor.

Numarul mare de dusmani pe care il au rozatoarele se limiteaza la cele zburatoare. Vulpile si dihorii sunt tinuti la distanta de gardul ce imprejmuieste plantatia. Dintre rapitoare, cele de noapte sunt cele mai prolifice si sunt incurajate prin instalarea de stalpi de peste 8 metrii cu teu in capat pe care acestea sa se sprijine in supravegere. Numeroase ferme folosesc astfel de stalpi ca masura constanta de control al rozatoarelor.

Iarba tunsa constant, mulcirea cu rumegus si stalpi pentru rapitoare raman metode eficiente si nepericuloase pentru mediu. In cazul unei infestari puternice, se folosesc otravurile, dar atentie, acestea reduc numarul de pasari rapitoare, fiind daunatoare si pentru puii acestoara.

7 thoughts on “Controlul soarecilor in camp

  1. It was amazing to visit your blog and realize you have had such a similar story to mine. I was living in Ireland untill 2 years ago and I moved back to Portugal and started my bluberry farm this year. I have planted near 8000 plants in 1,5l pots Duke and Bluecrop using weed fabric mulch and I am a passionate for research – basically I have digged into most references you have been using. I do not have the EC issues but realized the plantation is set down in a vallel, close to a river – exposed to late spring frosts. We also have a little pup called Tobias who help us capturering voles. I may have a little crop next year – we’ll see. Anyways your plantation looked like a brother farm. Good Luck

    Joao

    • Thank you for your message, Joao. Sometimes we feel a bit lonely in our project and work and it was great to hear from you and about your experience. Brother farm indeed! We are starting pruning now and this year we will concentrate on prepping more soil and maybe some more planting this fall. We will see what next year brings in terms of a crop. What we have seen of root development so far (we dug up a few plants to check recently) is encouraging. Good luck to you, too and keep in touch. Elisa and Remus (and Cosmos our pup)

  2. Great – I have added you today. On the pine mulch – have you checked the pH? We had assumed that ours was acidic but it turns out that it’s not at the pH it needs to be (I have to check the analysis for the exact number).

    • I didn’t check the pH of the pine mulch but I assume the soil pH will not be significantly affected according to the literature. It looks that for soil amendment sulfur is a wise option. I have broadcast about 300kg/ha of sulfur pellets last year (pH was 5,7 I am trying to lower it to 5,2-5,5 – i have a loamy sand soil). I will confirme in the fall how did the soil reacted. Having planted December 14, in case we need to lower the pH more I can add sulfur acid through the fertigation system. Also, using ammonium sulfate in the fertilization program may lower about 0,1 units per year.
      Looking backwards I wished I could have added even more pine bark. I added 100m3/ha on the rows and incorporated it in the soil.
      Neverthless, pH seems to be really important – I can add all the nutrients but it the pH is not within the ideal range it won’t be used by the plants.
      I was curious to see how was the weather in Solca and it seems you can have freezing temperatures easily until May???

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