Mineral oil barrier is an effective alternative for suppression of damage by white snails

Figures & data

Table 1. The effect of various chemical repellent on the presence of snails on citrus trees.

Date (day)	Development stage of trees	Treatments	Number of alive snail for each tree
			Minimum	Average	Maximum
0	Fruit enlargement and maturation	Mineral oil	1	3.6b	11
		Iron phosphate	2	26.3b	80
		Snail-repellent paint	1	4.6b	14
		Metaldehyde	5	36.4b	174
		Control	2	83.4a*	252
6	Fruit enlargement and maturation	Mineral oil	2	15.5b	91
		Iron phosphate	4	29.4b	98
		Snail-repellent paint	5	18.4b	56
		Metaldehyde	3	32.8b	125
		Control	4	74.0a	192
14	Fruit enlargement and maturation	Mineral oil	0	0.6b	2
		Iron phosphate	0	9.8b	48
		Snail-repellent paint	0	3.8b	24
		Metaldehyde	0	17.8b	72
		Control	11	41.1a	123
20	Fruit enlargement and maturation	Mineral oil	0	0.3b	1
		Iron phosphate	1	10.0b	39
		Snail-repellent paint	0	2.4b	14
		Metaldehyde	1	17.3b	84
		Control	16	38.6a	106
30	Fruit enlargement and maturation	Mineral oil	1	4.9c	17
		Iron phosphate	3	11.9bc	32
		Snail-repellent paint	4	11.4bc	27
		Metaldehyde	3	21.9ab	54
		Control	5	30.6a	78

*Different letters in each sampling date show a significant difference among treatments at P = .05, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test.

Figure 1. Mean total number of snails found on citrus trees treated with various snail repellents over the experimental period of 30 days in the first study. Different letters above the columns indicate significant difference among treatments at P = .05, using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test.

Figure 2. Mean number of snails found on citrus trees treated with various snail repellents on different dates during the second experiment. Different letters above the columns indicate significant differences among treatments on each date at P = .05, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test.

Figure 3. Mean total number of snails found on citrus trees treated with various snail repellents in total sampling time course of second study. Different letters above the columns indicate significant difference among treatments at P = .05, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test.

Table 2. Cost of each treatment during one season per hectare.

Treatment	Amount of application for each tree	Times of application during the experiment	Price ($*/tree)	Labor ($/ha)	Total cost ($/ha)
Mineral oil	77.6 g + 20 cm of con-like foam	1	0.10	25	55
Iron phosphate (Ferricole)	20.5 g	8	0.35	48	153
Snial repellent paint (Sabzarang)	62.5 g	1	0.33	25	124
Metaldehyde	14.6 g	8	0.24	48	120

*Iran’s currency is Rial and one dollar is 42,000 Rial.