Knowledge, attitudes and practices of farmers on rodent pests and their management in the lowlands of the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor, Philippines

A survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of 100 rice farmers and 50 coconut farmers was conducted in the coastal lowland agro-ecosystems of the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor, Luzon, Philippines to identify current rodent management practices and to understand the extent of rat damage and the attitudes of farmers to community actions for rodent management. Pests were most commonly listed as one of the three most important rice and coconut production constraints. Other major crop production constraints were typhoons and insufficient water. Farmers consider rats to be the major pest of coconut and of rice during the wet season rice crop, with average yield losses of 3.0% and 13.2%, respectively. Rice and coconut farmers practised a wide range of rodent management techniques. These included scrub clearance, hunting and trapping. Of the 42 rice farmers and 3 coconut farmers that applied rodenticides to control rodents, all used the acute rodenticide, zinc phosphide. However, only ten rice farmers (23.8%) applied rodenticides prior to the booting stage and only seven farmers (15.6%) conducted pre-baiting before applying zinc phosphide. The majority of farmers belonged to farmer organisations and believed that rat control can only be done by farmers wo rking together. However, during the last cropping season, less than a third of rice farmers (31.2%) applied rodent management as a group. In order to reduce the impact of rodents on the farmers of the coastal lowlands of the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor, integrated management strategies need to be developed that specifically target the pest rodents in a sustainable manner, and community actions for rodent management should be promoted.

针对菲律宾吕宋岛马德雷山脉生物多样性走廊沿海低地农业生态系统中的100名稻农与50名椰农，开展了一项知识、态度与行为（Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices，KAP）调查，旨在明确当前的鼠害防治实践，摸清鼠害造成的损失程度，以及农户对鼠害防治社区行动的态度。虫害通常被列为水稻与椰子生产三大核心限制因素之一，其他主要作物生产限制因素则为台风与水资源不足。农户认为鼠类是椰子种植与雨季水稻种植的主要虫害，二者的平均产量损失分别为3.0%与13.2%。稻农与椰农采用了多种鼠害防治技术，包括灌丛清理、人工猎捕与诱捕。在42名使用杀鼠剂防控鼠害的稻农与3名椰农中，所有人均使用了急性杀鼠剂磷化锌（zinc phosphide）。但仅有10名稻农（23.8%）在孕穗期前施用杀鼠剂，且仅7名农户（15.6%）在施用磷化锌前开展了预诱处理。多数农户加入了农户组织，且认为鼠害防控仅能通过农户协同合作实现。但在上一个种植季，仅有不足三分之一的稻农（31.2%）以小组形式开展鼠害防治。为降低鼠害对马德雷山脉生物多样性走廊沿海低地农户的影响，需制定以可持续方式针对性防控害鼠的综合防治策略，并推广鼠害防治社区行动。