Staff Reporter, Ranfpur :
The paddy cultivators of eight districts in Rangpur division face huge loss every year on account of crop damage by rats during Aman season.
About 0.2 million tonnes of Aman paddy are damaged by the rats across the division each year that affects its yield to a great extent, sources said.
According to sources, Aman is cultivated on around 10 to 12 lakh hectares of land in the division every year producing 25 to 28 lakh tonnes of grains. About 5 to 7 percent of the produce is destroyed by rats every year.
A mother rat can give birth 8-10 times a year and it can also conceive within 48 hours after giving birth to its children. A pair of rats can produce more than 3,000 offspring each year, sources also said.
This year rats have already gobbled up a good quantity of crops. Rodents are damaging paddy fields, though the growers are desperately trying to prevent the attack by adopting different methods sources alleged.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Rangpur official sources said a colossal amount of crop can be saved by killing rats every year.The department takes adequate measures to combat the adverse situation every year so that the peasants can save their crops from being damaged.
