Benjamini, L., Unit of Vertebrate Pest Control, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel

The efficacy of two treatments in protecting sugar beet sprouts from damage by birds was tested. Dense sowing of inexpensive sugar beet seeds as an alternative food between the rows of the commercial planting reduced the damage to the commercial crop by about 9%. The same treatment followed by foliar spray (2.25 kg a.i./ha) of Mesurol - a chemical repellent - gave a ∼20% reduction in damage, but losses were still heavy. The effects of plot size and of local conditions are discussed. © 1980 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.