Management of maize using trap barrier system for house mouse (Mus musculus Linn.) depredations in Faisalabad and Jhang, Pakistan

Madeeha Kanwal, Hammad Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Javed, Anas Sarwar Qureshi and Hassan Ali Farooq, Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2016; 4[6]: 617-622

The house mouse [Mus musculus Linn.] of the order ‘rodentia’ and family ‘muridae’, inhabits wide range of habitats. Of its main inhabited habitations, well moisture canal irrigated cropland-ecosystems, manmade relatively old buildings and stored grain structures are included. This paper describes information about the depredatory patterns exhibited by the house mouse for the maize, incorporated with the trap barrier system [TBS] in the sampled sub-habitats of Faisalabad and Jhang, Pakistan. Both of them belong to Central Punjab, Pakistan, where predominant agricultural activities are extended throughout the year. For one acre plots of each, the house mouse damage was intensively high during the years 92012] and [2013] in controlled conditions 109.6±4.20; 151.8±4.07; 99.11±4.37 and 137.1±5.00, while in the barrier treated conditions, there was a significant decline for rodent depredations 56.89±2.97; 66.58±3.01; 50.33±2.37 and 66.35±3.37. Trap success ratios [TSRs] indicated that, through the application of trap barrier system in both the habitats, there was a considerable decline in the population of house mouse, and prove beneficial for other economically important crops’, for not only inhibiting the house mouse damage proportions, but for maintenance of crop sustainability.

Keywords: Management, crops, rodents; trap barrier system, agro-ecosystems