A sunflower seed producer of Syngenta reduced bird damage

Location:	Tunuyan, Mendoza, Argentina
Application context:	Sunflower, seed production
Problem definition:	Birds destroying the sunflowers and eating the seeds
Bird species:	Pigeons (Columbidae) and parrots (Psittaciformes)
Time of the year with bird problems:	January – February
Time of the day with bird problems:	From dusk till dawn
Number of systems:	1 x Agrilaser Autonomic 500 with solar panel
In use since:	February 2018
Laser projection area:	12 hectares (29,65 acres)
Damage in the unprotected area:	4.36% bird damage
Damage in the area protected by Autonomic:	0.92% bird damage (based on average of 2 month trial)
Total bird reduction:	80%
Different bird deterrent systems before the Autonomic’s use:	• Bird watchers • Pyrotechnics (fireworks)

Sunflower seed producer achieved an 80% bird damage reduction

After trying different bird deterrent systems, Luis Zaballa of Syngenta, finally found an effective, long lasting solution for the damage caused by birds and achieved an 80% damage reduction.

Different deterrent methods tested

The Syngenta sunflower seed producer in Argentina has previously tested several different methods over time to stop their bird damage. They have tried bird watchers and fireworks but none of these methods gave long-lasting results.

Autonomic laser deterrent installation

Luis Zaballa, Agricultural Engineer of Syngenta commented: “Before the installation of the Agrilaser Autonomic birds would perch, search for food and damage the sunflowers. After the installation birds started to fly away, they didn’t approach or settle in the area anymore.”

Bird damage reduction

Luis Zaballa explains that in this crop field of 12 hectares they have always had bird problems: “We couldn’t find a proper solution for keeping the birds away from our field and suffered severe losses. We even have got some areas where we can’t grow crops anymore due to the bird damage.

One grower told us about the Agrilaser Autonomic. We were intrigued to see the laser effectiveness and decided to do a bird damage reduction test: we compared the area where we used the Autonomic to protect our crops from birds to the unprotected area. We concluded that the Autonomic achieved an 80% damage reduction.”

Bird damage reduction – Lot Z2009 El Capacho

“Our experience with the Autonomic laser bird deterrent was very good”

Luis Zaballa – Agricultural Engineer Syngenta