Integrated pest management for rodents in sugarcane

An integrated pest management package was developed to minimise rodent damage in Queensland sugarcane. Strategies in the package include reducing invasion of canefields by controlling weeds which attract rodents, both in the crop and in surrounding refuges used by rodents, and using Klerat rodenticide baits early in the growth of cane when rodents are breeding. Application of rodenticide is restricted to years when numbers of rodents and conditions for breeding are likely to result in damage to cane. Monitoring of rodent numbers across districts and assessment of breeding condition is the key to integrating rodenticide baits in the IPM program. Adoption of IPM for rodents will occur when growers accept weed control and early strategic baiting as an economic alternative to the former practice of area-wide aerial baiting late in the crop growth cycle and after the breeding cycle of rodents.