Rats attack aman crop in Gaibandha

The menace of rats in aman fields is worrying farmers in the district as the rodents cut down green and ripe paddy spikes and store them in ditches, which adversely affects paddy output.

Farmers have not been able control the menace despite using pesticides and traps. Rats do not touch food items covered with pesticide, and even cleverly avoid the traps that farmers place at the mouths of the ditches, said farmers of Santiram village in Sundarganj upazila.

Rats cut down paddy spikes at night and store them in the ditches, causing a drop in production, said Afsar Ali, a farmer of Haldia in Shaghata upazila.

Just after evening, villagers make a lot of noise with brass plates or bells along the perimeter of paddy fields to drive out the rats, said Monjel Ali, another farmer.

A week-long rat control  campaign is going on in seven upazilas of the district to teach farmers on proper use of pesticides and irrigation to save the crops from rat attack, said AKM Ruhul Amin, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, Gaibandha.