Birdodge®: Dual-Action Solution for Bird Repellency and Crop Health Enhancement

Addressing Growing Agricultural Challenges

The quality and safety of seeds serve as critical determinants of crop yields and the profitability of agriculture. 

Over time, intensive cultivation cycles exacerbate soil-borne diseases, seed pathogens, pest infestation, and nutrient deficiencies. These challenges fuel demands for seed treatment solutions that integrate fungicidal, insecticidal, and nutritional functions to safeguard seed health. 

Simultaneously, ecological restoration has increased bird populations. However, this positive practice has brought with it unintended agricultural losses. Seeds and seedlings of crops, such as direct-seeded rice, corn, and soybeans, as well as mature fruits, such as grapes, cherries, and blueberries, are frequently pecked by birds during critical growth stages. Traditional deterrents, such as Carbosulfan and scarecrow, often face legal risks due to concerns over harming protected species and limited effectiveness. This underscores the urgent need for seed treatment products that integrate bird-repellent properties to mitigate economic losses. 

Thus, the future of seed treatment lies in multifunctional formulations that combine disease control, pest management, nutrient supplements, stress resistance, and bird deterrence.

Path to Industry Leadership from Scratch

Ningbo Sunjoy Agroscience Co., Ltd (known as Sunjoy Agro) recognized the market opportunity and started its innovation journey in 2012. It has evolved from studying international repellent technologies to achieving independent innovation. Today, Sunjoy Agro stands as China’s first enterprise to hold six patents in bird repellent technology. It has also established the first Avian Bioassay Laboratory and set industry standards for the evaluation of the efficacy of bird repellents.

In 2022, Sunjoy Agro has developed Birdodge^®, a second-generation bird repellent solution based upon patented technologies. By leveraging amino acids and their metal chelates as core ingredients, Birdodge^® breaks through the functional limitations of traditional seed dressing products. This innovative product offers a dual-action solution that repels birds safely and effectively, while enhancing crop resilience and yields, in alignment with the principles of sustainable agriculture.

How Birdodge^® Repellency Works: Core Strengths

Taste-Driven Disturbance

Compared with mammals, birds have fewer taste buds and a reduced number of bitter taste receptor genes (T2R), rendering them less sensitive to bitterness. As a result, it is very challenging to develop bird taste repellents. Sunjoy Agro dedicated six years to creating its first generation of bird repellents, known as Birdoff^®, intended for repelling birds from crops and preserving seeds.

Birdodge^® represents the second generation of our bird repellent series. It utilizes specific amino acids, such as L-arginine and L-phenylalanine, which interact with avian taste receptors to stimulate a bitter sensation, discouraging consumption behavior in birds without causing harm. 

Laboratory and field trials confirm:

• 3g/kg seed treatment: >70% rejection rate by common bird species (e.g., white-rumped munia, spotted dove).
• 5g/kg seed treatment: >90% rejection rate, ensuring robust protection during germination.

Figure 1 and Figure 2: Seeds treated with Birdodge^® showed significantly more repellency effects than untreated seed or seed treated with pigment.

Safety and Sustainability

After ingestion, birds experience temporary digestive discomfort – a non-lethal deterrent that encourages avoidance. Birdodge^® shows extremely low toxicity to birds and mammals, with an acute oral LD50 of >2000 mg/kg for Japanese quail and an acute oral and dermal LD50 of >5000 mg/kg for rats, which indicates the toxicity of the product is lower than that of salt. Additionally, amino acids degrade under natural light and through microbial activity, leaving no harmful residues. Thus, this product is deemed safe for both humans and animals, while also minimizing the potential for environmental pollution. 

Flock-Wide Behavioral Shift

Birds naturally avoid food sources and areas where peers exhibit distress. After initial encounters with Birdodge^®-treated seeds, flocks communicate the aversive experience, leading to collective avoidance behavior. Consequently, only some birds initially peck at the treated seeds, and soon prompt the entire flock to move elsewhere. This mechanism significantly reduces reliance on labor-intensive methods, such as visual or auditory intimidation, which often yields unsatisfactory results. It also lowers the costs and time associated with replanting efforts due to seed loss. 

Long-term protection

Birdodge^® provides protective color coating for seeds during the germination period, with a protection period of up to 28 days, therefore effectively safeguard vulnerable seeds and seedlings from avian predation.

Beyond Repellency: Boosting Crop Performance

Growth promotion

Amino acids play multiple beneficial roles in plants. Birdodge^® enhances germination rates and improves the vitality of seeds. It also stimulates seeds to resist environmental pressures, including low temperature, drought and waterlogging, thereby promoting faster and improved germination outcomes. Furthermore, it supports plant growth and development by strengthening seedlings and root systems. As a result, a solid nutritional foundation established during the seed and seedling stages contributes to the overall vigor of the plant, resulting in thicker leaves, enhanced photosynthetic capacity, accelerated growth, and increased competitiveness.

Sunjoy Agro has conducted numerous laboratory experiments and field trials to evaluate the performance of Birdodge^®. The findings indicate that the germination rate of seeds treated with Birdodge^® consistently surpasses that of the control group, especially under low temperature conditions.  

Validated Results

Figure 3: Four days after sowing, germination results for Corn Seed A at room temperature 25℃.

Figure 4: Four days after sowing, germination results for Corn Seed B at room temperature 25℃.

Table 1: Seven Days After Sowing, Germination Result at 25℃ and 15℃

Table 2: Seven Days After Sowing, Growth Indicators at Room Temperature 25℃

Table 3: Seven Days After Sowing, Growth Indicators at Low Temperature 15℃

In December 2024, Sunjoy Agro collaborated with Qingdao Agricultural University to evaluate the effects of Birdodge^® on improving the growth and vitality of treated corn seeds. Within the concentration range of 3-5ml/kg, no significant inhibition of seed germination, root growth, or stem growth was observed. Results indicated that Birdodge^® can effectively improve both the underground and aboveground growth of corn plants, particularly in seeds with low vitality, and which are subjected to adverse conditions, such as low temperatures. The positive impact was notably more obvious under these unfavorable circumstances. Furthermore, the growth-promoting effects showed a clear trend of improvement correlating with increasing concentration levels. Based upon the analysis of various growth indicators, the 5ml/kg treatment demonstrated superior efficacy in enhancing seed resilience and growth capabilities, compared to the 3ml/kg treatment.

The Preferred Choice for Green Agriculture

Birdodge^® redefines bird management by merging bird repellent safety and growth promotion efficiency with environmental stewardship. Its dual mechanism not only reduces bird infestation and mitigates crop losses, but also improves crop resistance and elevates farm productivity, helping growers gain improved economic benefits. Adopted across multiple regions in China, Birdodge^® represents Sunjoy Agro’s commitment to innovation that balances agricultural productivity with ecological responsibility.

ABOUT NINGBO SUNJOY AGROSCIENCE CO., LTD

Sunjoy Agro is a global supplier of premium crop protection solutions, pursuing technical innovation and value creation. For more information about products or services, please contact info@sunjoyagro.com or visit the official website at http://en.sunjoyagro.com/