Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University, Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Ministry of Climate Change, Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Braz J Biol. 2022 Jun 3;84:e254445. doi: 10.1590/1519-6984.254445. eCollection 2022.
Rodents can cause significant damage to wheat-groundnut crops in developing countries, as well as to stored produce and infrastructure, affecting food security and income of small-holder farmers. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and groundnuts (Arachis hypogea) are important cash crops for local farmers in Pakistan. Field experiments were performed to assess the extent of rodent damage to wheat-groundnut crops throughout their growth stages (i.e, germination, flowering/peg formation and maturity) in the agro-ecological zones of Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan. We used a quadrat method to record the number of damaged crop plants. On the basis of the trapping data four rodent species were captured from wheat-groundnut cropping systems which were responsible for causing damage, i.e., lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) was the main species, followed by the short-tailed mole rat (Nesokia indica), the Indian gerbil (Tatera indica) and the bush rat (Golunda ellioti). In both crops, the maximum damage was recorded at crop maturity (10.7 and 14.4%, respectively). The lowest reported damage to wheat and groundnuts was at the germination stage (3.5% and 6.0%, respectively). The lower damage reported at germination could be due to availability of non-crop vegetation at field borders that may be a potential factor influencing damage. Our findings clearly show the considerable amount of damage caused by rodents to wheat-groundnut at maturity across all the agro-ecological zones of Pothwar and indicated that the small mammal composition was more related to maturity stage/season of crops, when the availability of food and climatic condition were favorable and having security under crop shelter. More detailed studies are needed to fully understand the population and breeding ecology of the relevant rodent pest species in relation to damage patterns to optimize management beyond individual structural measures.
啮齿动物会对发展中国家的小麦-花生作物以及储存的农产品和基础设施造成重大损害，影响粮食安全和小农的收入。小麦（Triticum aestivum）和花生（Arachis hypogea）是巴基斯坦当地农民的重要经济作物。本研究在巴基斯坦 Potwar 高原的农业生态区进行了田间试验，以评估整个生长阶段（即发芽、开花/结形成和成熟）中啮齿动物对小麦-花生作物的损害程度。我们使用了四分法记录受损害作物的数量。基于捕获数据，我们从小麦-花生种植系统中捕获了四种导致损害的啮齿动物，即小家鼠（Bandicota bengalensis）是主要物种，其次是短尾鼩鼱（Nesokia indica）、印度仓鼠（Tatera indica）和林姬鼠（Golunda ellioti）。在这两种作物中，成熟时记录到的损害最大（分别为 10.7%和 14.4%）。报告的小麦和花生受损最低的是发芽阶段（分别为 3.5%和 6.0%）。发芽时报告的损害较低可能是由于田间边界有非作物植被，这可能是影响损害的一个潜在因素。我们的研究结果清楚地表明，啮齿动物在 Potwar 的所有农业生态区对小麦-花生在成熟时造成了相当大的损害，并表明小型哺乳动物的组成更多地与作物的成熟阶段/季节有关，此时食物和气候条件有利于它们的生存，并在作物庇护下有安全感。需要进行更详细的研究，以充分了解与损害模式有关的相关啮齿动物害虫的种群和繁殖生态学，以优化管理措施，而不仅仅是个体结构措施。
