Rats and ecologically based management

Once the ecology of a major pest species is understood, scientists and extension specialists can work closely with farmers to develop ecologically sound, cost-effective management strategies that dovetail into normal farming practices, including traditional rat-catching methods. Village-level studies in Indonesia and Vietnam have clearly shown that rat populations can be successfully managed if farmers work together as a community and if they apply their control at the right time and in the right habitats. Such ecologically based actions have also led to a 50% reduction in the use of chemical rodenticides.

One simple technology added to the armory of rice farmers is a trap-and-fence system known as the trap barrier system. Used across much of Southeast Asia, it comprises a plastic fence surrounding a small rice crop planted 2–3 weeks earlier than the surrounding crop, with traps set into the plastic. At night, rats follow the line of the plastic until they reach a hole, which they enter to reach the rice. They are subsequently caught and removed the next morning.

A trap barrier system in the Banaue ricefields in the Philippines. (Photo by G. Singleton)

The trap barrier system is most effective when combined with the following community actions:

• keep irrigation banks less than 30 cm wide to make it difficult for rats to build nests;

• conduct community campaigns using local methods to control rats within 30 days of planting the crop (before rats breed); these community actions should focus on village gardens, main irrigation channels, and roadsides;

• clean up any grain spills at harvest; and

• synchronize planting so that crops are planted within 2 weeks of each other.

References

Aplin KP, Brown PR, Singleton GR, Douang Boupha B, Khamphoukeo K. 2006. Rodent ecology in the rice environments of Laos. In: Rice in Laos (Eds. JM Schiller, MB Chanphengxay, B Linquist, and S Appa Rao), Chapter 19,  pp. 291-308, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines.

Belmain S, Meyer A, Kamal NQ, Shafali RB, Singleton GR, Aplin K, Mian Y. 2006. Ecologically based rodent management for rice-based cropping systems in Bangladesh. In: Sweetmore A, Kimmins F, Silverside P, editors. Perspectives on pests II: Achievements of research under the UK Department for International Development Crop Protection Programme, 2000-05. Aylesford, UK: Natural Resources International. p 179-181.

Brown PR, Tuan NP, Singleton GR, Ha PTT, Hao PT, Tan TQ, Tuat NV, Jacob J, Müller WJ. 2006. Ecologically based management of rodents in the real world: application to a mixed agro-ecosystem in Vietnam. Ecological Applications. 16: 2000-2010.

Singleton GR. 2003. Impacts of rodents on rice production in Asia. IRRI Discussion Paper Series No. 45, 30 pp, Los Baños, Philippines.

Singleton GR, Sudarmaji, Jacob J, Krebs CJ. 2005. Integrated management to reduce rodent management to lowland rice crops in Indonesia. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 107:75-82.

Stuart AM, Singleton GR, Prescott CV, Joshi RC, Sebastian LS. 2006. Pest status and management implications for rodents of the Ifugao Rice Terraces, Philippines. International Journal of Pest Management 53: 149-156.

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