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Rodent damage to rice crops is not affected by the water-saving technique, alternate wetting and drying

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Abstract

Rice farmers in Southeast Asia are hesitant to adopt the water-saving technology, alternate wetting and drying (AWD), for fear the practice will lead to increased rodent pest activity, consequently exacerbating yield loss. We examined the effects of AWD on the population dynamics, habitat use and damage levels inflicted on rice crops by the most important rodent pest of rice in Indonesia and the Philippines, Rattus argentiventer and R. tanezumi, respectively. Rice crop damage levels were not affected by the water management scheme employed. Rodent activity in rice fields was not influenced by water level. Both species tended to use the rice paddies over bunds regardless of water level, indicating that something other than water affects their habitat use, and we argue it is likely that the perceived risk of predation is the primary factor driving habitat use. Activity levels and damage inflicted by rodent pests on rice were not correlated. AWD had no effect on breeding and population dynamics of these species. Breeding of R. argentiventer is tied to the growth stages of rice, while available resource dictates breeding by R. tanezumi. Our findings clearly indicate that rice farmers in both Indonesia and the Philippines have no cause to reject AWD based on concerns that AWD would exacerbate crop losses by rodents. Given AWD is being promoted as a climate-smart technology for rice production in Asia and Africa, we strongly recommend its adoption without concerns that it would aggravate rodent pest impacts in lowland irrigated rice cropping systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the farmers of Minggir, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Bula, Camarines Sur, Philippines, for hosting this project. BPTP-Yogyakarta facilitated the collaboration with the famers of Minggir. Funding for this research was provided for by the Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship and the postgraduate platform of the Closing Rice Yield Gaps project (CORIGAP) which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Grant No. 81016734) through the International Rice Research Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainable Impact Platform, International Rice Research Institute, 4031, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    Renee P. Lorica, Grant R. Singleton & Alexander M. Stuart

  2. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, ME4 4TB, Kent, UK

    Renee P. Lorica, Grant R. Singleton & Steven R. Belmain

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  1. Renee P. Lorica
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  2. Grant R. Singleton
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  3. Alexander M. Stuart
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  4. Steven R. Belmain
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Correspondence to Renee P. Lorica.

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Ethical approval

Kill trapping, live capture, handling, marking and euthanasia of rodents conform to the 2016 Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research and education (Sikes and Animal Care and Use Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists 2016) and the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition (AVMA 2013). Permits were secured from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines (R5-74 and R4A-WGP-2017-LAG-003), and the Kementerian Riset, Teknologi, Dan Pendidikan Tinggi (Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education) in Indonesia (1169/FRP/E5/Dit.KI/V/2016 and 1192/FRP/E5/Dit.KI/VI/2017) prior to the conduct of the research.

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Lorica, R.P., Singleton, G.R., Stuart, A.M. et al. Rodent damage to rice crops is not affected by the water-saving technique, alternate wetting and drying. J Pest Sci 93, 1431–1442 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01237-3

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