What are the control measures for rodent damage in Poria cocos?
Poria cocos, also known as Yuling, Fuling, Wanlinggui, and Futu. It is the dried sclerotium of the fungus Poria cocos (family Fomitopsidaceae), often parasitic on pine roots, shaped like a sweet potato, spherical, with a pale brown or dark brown outer skin and a pink or white interior; after refining it is called white Poria or Yunling. Poria cocos and Tufuling have similar names, so they are easily confused. Tufuling is the root of Smilax glabra (family Smilacaceae), with a yellow-brown or gray-brown outer skin, and is completely unrelated to Poria cocos.
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that Poria cocos is sweet, bland, and neutral in nature and flavor, entering the Heart, Lung, and Spleen meridians. It has the effects of draining dampness and promoting diuresis, strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, and calming the heart and soothing the mind. Poria cocos can treat difficult urination, edema and distension, phlegm-fluid cough and counterflow, vomiting, morning sickness, diarrhea, seminal emission, strangury and turbidity, palpitations, forgetfulness, and other conditions. The diuretic action of Poria cocos is achieved by strengthening the transporting functions of the spleen and lungs, unlike other Chinese medicines that directly promote diuresis. Linggui Zhugan Tang, Sijunzi Tang, Siling Tang, and others are commonly used formulas containing Poria cocos. 1. For difficult urination, edema, and other conditions, Poria cocos functions to promote diuresis and drain dampness, and its medicinal nature is mild; it promotes diuresis without damaging vital qi, making it a key medicine for promoting diuresis and draining dampness. For all patterns of difficult urination and water-dampness stagnation, whether inclined toward cold-dampness, inclined toward damp-heat, or belonging to spleen deficiency with dampness accumulation, it can be used in combination. If inclined toward cold-dampness, it can be combined with Guizhi and Baizhu; if inclined toward damp-heat, it can be combined with Zhuling and Zexie; if belonging to spleen qi deficiency, it can be combined with Dangshen, Huangqi, and Baizhu; if belonging to deficiency-cold, it can also be used with Fuzi, Baizhu, and the like. 2. For diarrhea and vaginal discharge due to spleen deficiency, Poria cocos can both strengthen the spleen and drain dampness. For diarrhea and vaginal discharge caused by impaired transportation and transformation due to spleen deficiency, the use of Poria cocos has the effect of addressing both the root and the branch, and it is often combined with Dangshen, Baizhu, Shanyao, and the like. It can also be used as an auxiliary medicine to tonify the lungs and spleen and treat qi deficiency. 3. For phlegm-fluid cough, phlegm-dampness entering the collaterals, and soreness and pain of the shoulders and back, Poria cocos can both promote diuresis and drain dampness and also has a spleen-strengthening effect. For the condition in which spleen deficiency prevents the transportation and transformation of water-dampness, which then accumulates and transforms into phlegm-fluid, it has a therapeutic effect. It can be used with Banxia and Chenpi, or combined with Guizhi and Baizhu. To treat phlegm-dampness entering the collaterals with shoulder soreness and back pain, it can be combined with Banxia and Zhiqiao. 4. For palpitations, insomnia, and other conditions, Poria cocos can nourish the heart and calm the mind, so it can be used for restlessness of the heart and spirit, palpitations, insomnia, and other conditions, and is often combined with Renshen, Yuanzhi, Suanzaoren, and the like. 5. Anti-cancer. It is commonly used clinically to treat esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, tongue cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, ulcerative melanoma, and other tumors that belong to patterns of spleen deficiency with exuberant dampness, internal retention of phlegm-fluid, or binding accumulation of damp-heat.
Control measures for rodent damage in Poria cocos
Rodent damage is a serious global problem. It occurs commonly in the cultivation of edible fungi such as Poria cocos, oyster mushrooms, mushrooms, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms, and is one of the prominent problems in edible fungus cultivation.
Damage characteristics: During spawn production, for bottled spawn, the main damage is biting and scattering the cotton plug, causing the cotton plug to loosen or even be pulled out, leading to contamination of the culture material by miscellaneous fungi. For plastic bag spawn, the plastic bags are bitten through. They can bore holes in the culture material and destroy it. In the middle and later stages, they directly feed on the fruiting bodies, affecting fruiting body formation. After the already differentiated stipes and caps are gnawed, there are obvious notches or large sunken spots, causing the product to lose its commercial value. This pest is also an important pest during storage.
Morphological characteristics: Body length 150-160 mm; the scale rings on the tail are relatively distinct; there are relatively short bristles between the scales; the dorsal hair is brown-gray, brown-yellow, brown, and other colors; the abdominal hair is generally gray-white.
Occurrence pattern: Rats generally hide in burrows during the day and come out at night to forage, going out to feed twice each night, once in the evening and once again before dawn. Rats have omnivorous feeding habits. In addition to damaging edible fungi, they are harmful to agricultural and forestry crops, various foods, and articles. They move agilely, have poor vision, and have very keen smell, hearing, and touch. During activity, at the slightest disturbance, they immediately evade. Their reproductive capacity is strong; young rats can reproduce after living 3-4 months, and under conditions of sufficient food, once per month. They can swim in water.
Control measures for rodent damage in Poria cocos:
1) Manual capture: place mousetraps in the cultivation site to capture them. Dig out burrows to kill them, and pour water into burrows to capture and kill them.
2) Poison bait trapping: available rodenticides include zinc phosphide, diphacinone sodium salt, warfarin, norbormide, new rodenticide, and others. Use 100 parts of sorghum, corn, flour, peanuts, rice, and the like plus 5 parts zinc phosphide. Mix with a wooden stick, not by hand. After mixing, place the poison bait in places where rats are active, putting 10-20 grams of poison bait at each point, or use 3 parts zinc phosphide powder, 2 parts tea oil, and 95 parts rice to prepare poison bait, but it must not be sprinkled directly on the fruiting bodies.
3) Fumigation killing by placing medicine in rat holes: place half a tablet or one tablet of aluminum phosphide in the rat hole, then completely seal the hole opening with soil. The aluminum phosphide tablet absorbs moisture in the rat hole and decomposes, releasing phosphine toxic gas, killing the rats in the hole with the toxic gas.
Commonly used agents: zinc phosphide, diphacinone sodium salt, warfarin, norbormide, new rodenticide, aluminum phosphide.