Lasers halt crop losses

A new laser bird deterrent technology has been successfully used at South American crops. The technology is designed and manufactured by the Dutch company Bird Control Group, which says “agrilaser technology” is proven to decrease crop losses by 70% to 90 %.

In South America, pest birds like eared doves destroy between 5% and 25% of crops at farms every year, resulting in enormous monetary losses to small farmers as well as large agricultural operations, especially in crops like sunflowers. A lot of bird damage also occurs in high yield orchards with fruits like cherries, table grapes and blueberries. Many fruit growers in Chile and Peru are suffering from great losses due the attacks of birds when the colour of the fruit changes throughout their ripening process.

Bodega Catena Zapata Farm was one of the many Argentinian farms experiencing significant grape losses due to the local parrot flocks. In order to protect their grapes effectively, they decided to test the Agrilaser Autonomic automated laser bird deterrent system. The technology is inspired by nature and takes advantage of a bird’s natural instinct: birds perceive the approaching laser beam as a physical danger and disperse to seek safety. Due to the installation of Agrilaser Autonomic, Bodega Catena Zapata successfully reduced the presence of parrots by almost 100% and saved thousands of dollars on bird damage.

Agricola EU used the technology to avoid losses in a cherry farm in Chile. Germán González, the operations manager, decided to try Agrilaser after experiencing difficulties with choosing the right bird deterrent to protect the crops. With this installatio, he achieved immediate results and reduced the crop losses by 90%.

Positive results have been also observed at Syngenta, a global producer of agrochemicals and seeds. The Syngenta sunflower seed producer in Argentina was experiencing a problem with pigeons and parrots destroying sunflowers and eating the seeds. They tried bird watchers and fireworks, but none of these methods gave long-term results. After the Autonomic was installed, bird presence has decreased by 80%.

Mirko Yakasovic, a Chilean producer of table grapes,  saved 165 600 kg of grapes across 76 hectares by using this bird repellent system. Prior to the installation, pest birds used to eat up to 50% of his crops.

“Compared to the other methods, the laser simply works, giving me a peace of mind for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he claims. “The birds do not get used to the Autonomic Laser, deterring birds and reducing the damage drastically.”

Bird Control Group serves customers in aviation, agriculture, industry, oil & gas, recreation and real estate. Customers include Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Shell and Total.