Laser technology protects crops against bird damage

The projects were sponsored by the Dutch government as a part of the subsidy scheme for demonstration projects, feasibility studies and investment preparation studies (DHI).

A lot of farmers suffer from bird damage in South America. In Argentina this applies in particular to the cultivation of sunflowers, blueberries, nuts, almonds, pecans and citrus fruits.

Trials with Agrilaser technology

“In recent months we have been conducting trials with our Agrilaser technology in various regions of Argentina. We wanted to test the effect of our laser technology on different birds and investigate how we can increase the profitability of the local farmers”, says Imre Knol, Commercial Director of Bird Control Group. The company claims to be the global market leader in innovative laser bird repelling solutions. The trials were done in collaboration with INTA, the only nationally and independently operating agricultural research center in Argentina.

Protecting grapes from birds

Successful results were achieved in grape growing. The Dutch laser technology has been tested at Catena Zapata vineyard, one of the most prestigious wineries in Argentina. A 39 hectare field has been protected from birds by Agrilaser Autonomic for 3 months. The birds did not cause any damage during that period.

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Another test field was left unprotected by the Autonomic on purpose. There the damage amounted to almost € 28,000 during the same test period. Aguila Andina de Mendoza from Catena Zapata, who was in charge of the installation and service of the laser bird repellent, stated: “The effect of the technology is impressive. We did not find any damage in the covered area. However, we saw a lot of damage in neighboring areas not covered by the bird repelling laser.”

The Autonomic was also tested at Saavedra vineyard. The results showed that there were hardly any birds left after a month of trial. “We are very happy with these results. We have been able to conclude that Agrilaser Autonomic is very effective in chasing birds in a large winery area”, says Knol.

Blueberry farms

Farmers also deal with severe bird problems at their blueberry farms in Argentina. Pigeons, starlings, tangents and the great kiskadees are the culprits there. The bird laser has been tested on 4 identical fields of 0.6 hectares, each in collaboration with the Argentinean Agroberries. The number of birds observed was much higher (154) on 2 unprotected fields than on the ones that were protected by the Autonomic (31). “This is a nice result, especially because blueberries have a very high cost value per hectare”, says Knol.

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More than 85% damage reduction

Sunflowers also get damaged a lot by birds in Argentina. Monk parakeets like to nest on them which can cause a lot of problems. “We have done a trial in Buenos Aires. The Agrilaser Autonomic was set up on a field of 30 hectares there. An adjacent field of 30 hectares we intentionally left unprotected. We also clearly see here that the burrowing parrots in the protected areas don’t damage the crops. However, the monk parakeets still do cause damage but to a much lesser extent. All in all, we can conclude this was a successful test with a damage reduction of more than 85% “, says Knol.