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Project Hraboš (Microtus arvalis)

Project "SS06020333 Suppression of population densities of the field vole (Microtus arvalis) using plant repellents"

"This project is financed with state support from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic under the Environment for Life Program." This project was financed under the National Recovery Plan from the European Recovery and Resilience Instrument.


Project objective


The project is focused on reducing the population density of the field vole using plant repellents and plant species with repellent effects on this pest. The main objective of the project is to find new environmentally acceptable methods that can be applied in agricultural practice in order to reduce the consumption of rodenticides used especially during periods of overpopulation of the field vole population. The partial objectives of the project are to create a new ecological preparation, based on plant extracts, which will have repellent effects on the field vole and to find suitable plant species that can be used in the current agricultural practice system in order to limit the spread of the field vole to new locations.


Project progress


In the first year of the project, we identified repellent plants that can be grown on the farm - hemp, flax, chickpeas, sorghum, cumin, coriander, fennel.


At the end of the experiment, sorghum was chosen as the repellent plant for future use on the farm (due to its use, agronomy, and seed availability).


Our most important finding is that a varied crop rotation, appropriate agrotechnical measures and support for biological regulation, especially kestrels, in combination with the use of repellent strips can significantly suppress vole pressure during their gradation periods, which occur once every 2-4 years.


We are also pleased that after the last monitoring of the postmen on June 2, we see settlement and egg laying in all the boxes.


The article in the magazine Úroda can be read here.




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