Farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rodent pests and their management in rural Pothwar, Pakistan

Surrya Khanam

doi:10.19045/bspab.2021.100125

Abstract

Rodents are important constraint in the agricultural systems of Pakistan. Farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards rodent pests and their management was assessed through a survey. A structured questionnaire was administrated to farmers (n=114) in four villages of Pothwar, Pakistan. Farmers considered high prices of fertilizers as the major constraint in crop production. This study revealed that rodents were perceived as the major pests in both crop fields (62%) and storage (61%). Farmers identified wheat crop as the most susceptible to rodent attack. The harvesting stage was considered the most critical stage to rodent damage, due to high rodent population. Farmers practiced rodent management individually and considered rodenticides as the most effective way to control rodents (88%). The majority of farmers belief that the crop production is affected due to rodent pests and in order to decrease rodent losses farmers should work together. A large portion of respondents (77%) indicated that they lacked assistance in managing rodents. Overall, the results indicated that farmers were aware of rodent damage to crops, but lacked training on control strategies. For successful rodent pest management in Pothwar, farmers’ education and training focusing on community based rodent management practices are required. In order to reduce the use of rodenticides and minimize pre- and post- harvest losses due to rodents, ecologically based management practices are highly recommended. Keywords: Crop damages; Farmers’ beliefs; Pothwar; Rodent management; Rodent pests http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2021.100125

Highlights

Introduction in the grain markets ofPakistan, an estimatedAgriculture is the major component of average population of 40 rats/grain shop and Pakistan economy, contributing 18.9% to its an annual grain loss of 740 kg/shop have beenGross domestic product (GDP) and 43.2% of reported due to various rodent activities [4].the labor force is associated with this sectorIn other developing countries of the world,[1]
ecologically-based rodent management (EBRM) depends on a strong understanding of the ecology of the major pest species present in the area
In Pothwar, Pakistan, little is known about the rodent pest species, their biology and distribution

Summary

Introduction

Introduction in the grain markets ofPakistan, an estimatedAgriculture is the major component of average population of 40 rats/grain shop and Pakistan economy, contributing 18.9% to its an annual grain loss of 740 kg/shop have beenGross domestic product (GDP) and 43.2% of reported due to various rodent activities [4].the labor force is associated with this sectorIn other developing countries of the world,[1]. Agriculture is the major component of average population of 40 rats/grain shop and Pakistan economy, contributing 18.9% to its an annual grain loss of 740 kg/shop have been. Gross domestic product (GDP) and 43.2% of reported due to various rodent activities [4]. An important problem in agriculture is rodents are considered as an important the decrease in the crop yield due to rodent constraint in boosting agriculture [5], causing damages [2]. There are reports of losses of both pre- and post- harvest losses [6, 7]. In. 15% and 7% in coconut and sugar cane crops, several studies, rodents were ranked either as respectively from Sindh, Pakistan [3]. The Pothwar Plateau has great agricultural and social significance with cultivated area of around 10000 km

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion