Humans outsmarting rats in Vietnam

Farmers in An Giang, Vietnam, flood the burrows of rats, one of their traditional methods of rodent management. (An Giang sub-PPD photo)

Vietnamese farmers in the provinces of Ha Nam and An Giang collectively practice control actions against rodents, one of the top three pests in the country. Community action and the use of the community trap barrier system are the key management strategies implemented in Vietnam and Indonesia by the project “Sustainable implementation of ecological rodent management.” This is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

The project’s objectives are related to the goals of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium, particularly in disseminating mature lowland rice technologies. IRRC Coordinator Dr. Grant Singleton, a rodent expert, is the project leader at the International Rice Research Institute.

Now in its second year, the project held a review and planning workshop for Vietnam in Ha Nam Province on 19-20 April to discuss the lessons learned from activities in 2006—what needs to be improved, what went well, and what to do for 2007 and beyond.

A few days before the meeting, a training event on the biology of rats and ecologically based rodent management (EBRM) was conducted by Dr. Peter Brown of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO), together with Dr. Nguyen Tuan of the Plant Protection Institute (PPI).

The participants were staff of provincial plant protection departments (PPD) and plant protection stations of the district sites, and village extension officers. Dr. Peter Roebeling of CSIRO (project coordinator) and Mr. Huan of PPD South organized the workshop, assisted by Mr. Tran Thanh Tung. Dr. Roebeling gave an overview of the workshop’s objectives. Results of the project’s first year of implementation were presented by Ms. Nga of Ha Nam and Mr. Lam of An Giang.

Dr. Florencia Palis presented initial results of the survey on knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Ha Nam and An Giang. Interestingly, farmers
identified television and video as preferred pathways for receiving information on new technologies.

Developing a video will help extension staff promote EBRM among farmers in Vietnam. Scaling-up of project activities to the government and nongovernment organizations, and institutions in other districts, is the top priority for this year, with scaling-out to farmers set for the following year.

Florencia Palis (f.palis@cgiar.org)

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