Avian composition and damage assessment in guava fruit crop at Ludhiana, Punjab

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess bird community characteristics and bird damage in guava orchards at three locations named Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) campus (location I), village Birmi (location II) and village Baranhara (location III) in district Ludhiana. Species richness values of 20, 19 and 25 were found at location I, II and III respectively. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) was observed as major pest species in selected locations. Different methods of bird manual scaring were employed at location I and bird damage to guava fruit was found to be 5.5 per cent at ripening stage. Bird manual scaring methods were not implemented at farmer owned orchards at location II and III; fruit damage was estimated to be 42.50 per cent and 23.50 per cent at fruit ripening stage at location II and location III respectively. Bird manual scaring methods were found effective in reducing the bird damage in guava crop at location I as compared to location II and III.