mb.com.ph; April 2, 2011, 2:21pm

MANILA, Philippines — With the onset of harvest season, a crop protection expert advised farmers to clean up grain spills to prevent rats from habituating the field.

Ulysses Duque, crop protection expert at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in the Science City of Muñoz, said rat population increases during harvest season as the rodents multiply rapidly when food sources are abundant.

According to Duque, studies on rat ecology found that female rats can give birth to about 120 puppies in a cropping season.

They are pregnant for 21 days and mate again the day after they give birth, he said.

To control rat population, Duque urged neighboring rice tillers with about 10 hectare-contingent field to practice integrated rat management.

He said this includes synchronous planting, field sanitation, and keeping irrigation banks less than 20-centimeter wide to prevent rats from building nests.

Duque said fields of farmers implementing eco-friendly and proper rat management can still be invaded by rats from neighboring fields as these rodents are highly mobile.

“We encourage communities to act together as rat infestation damages crops by 10 percent or higher, and decreases yield by 2.5 percent,” he said.

He discouraged farmers from using rodenticide as rat baits and instead recommended field sanitation as the most active and sustained control measure.

He also said that neighboring farmers should start controlling rats during the land preparation while their population is still low.

“Poisoning does not yield much good result because it is used when rats have already grown in number,” he said.

“Poisoning is not also recommended as rodenticides are lethal to humans and non-target animals,” he added. (PNA)

Source: Clean up grain spills to prevent rat infestation, says crop expert