Research News

Rats are major pests which cause substantial crop losses before and after harvest, and also carry diseases affecting both people and livestock. Failure to manage rodent populations can have serious impacts on health and livelihoods.

A new project, Rat Management for Rural Communities in Bangladesh, awarded to AID-Comilla in July 2008 for a period of 3 years, will build on the work of previous research conducted under DFID's Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programme (projects R8424 and R8184). The earlier work showed that pre-harvest losses of rice were in the range 5-17% and over a 3-month period some 5-10% of stored grain was lost to rodents. Damage assessments made by farmers also showed that rodents cause damage to houses, personal possessions, roads and fields. Ecologically-Based Rodent Management (EBRM) strategies, which involve the use of traps, were shown to reduce the impacts of rodents by 60-80%, with no cost (financial or time) increases compared with previous rodent management practices.

This new project is one of 13 proposals selected for funding by the Research into Use (RIU) Programme's Innovation Challenge Fund for Asia. The aim is to train 20,000 rural housholds in Ecologically-Based Rodent Management in 100 villages in the Southeast, Southwest and Northern regions of Bangladesh. It will involve building the capacity of local institutions to deliver knowledge of EBRM techniques to end users by providing formal and hands on training to communities. A new rat trap that is more effective than those currently available in Bangladesh will be produced and marketed through existing markets, and by means of novel Public-Private partnership schemes. Rat control at the community level by means of intensive trap use (rather than by the traditional use of rat poisons) will be encouraged.

More information

Rat management for rural communities - Article by Dr. S. R. Belmain and Rokeya Begum Shafali in The New Nation Internet Edition, 4 August, 2008
R8184: Ecologically-based rodent management for diversified rice-based cropping systems
R8424: Rodent management in Bangladesh
The Research Into Use Programme