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Farmers in Tanzania consider rodents to be the major vertebrate pest of maize, especially at planting
and seedling stages and annual losses are high. We evaluated the potential of two seed-dressing compounds, thiram
and cinnamamide, as rodent repellents to protect maize against damage by multimammate rats, Mastomys natalen-
sis. In laboratory tests, the two compounds showed a strong repellent effect against M. natalensis and thus the
potential to protect maize seeds. The two compounds were evaluated in maize fields using Randomized Complete
Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results show that these repellents are effective for protecting
maize seeds against multimammate rats in the field, but in locations with high population of Tatera leucogaster,
seedlings are still damaged after emergence. Therefore, in such locations, other control measures, including applica-
tion of rodenticides just before seedling emergence may be necessary. |
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