A survey on knowledge, attitude and practices of farmers on management of rodent pests

A survey on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of 200 farmers on rodent pests and their management was conducted in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, using a structured questionnaire to study the population ecology of rodents, their extent of damage and the various management practices commonly adopted by farmers to control them. The information on this survey is useful to formulate and design the Integrated Rodent Management (IRM) strategies or modules for effective rodent control. Farmers considered rodents as the main biological production constraint in paddy cultivation and estimated that they cause on an average of 10-15% yield losses in every season. Most of the farmers believe that, poison baiting could effectively control rodents, but majority of them were unaware of the dosages of rodenticide ingredients and also unaware of usage of bait stations as the effective rodent control practices. The survey revealed that, most of the farmers are with moderate level of knowledge (68 %) and practices (76 %) and also majority of them were categorized as secondary adopters (81%) basing on the analysis of farmers knowledge, practices and attitude attributes relating to rodent management respectively. A lack of proper knowledge in adopting current recommended rodent management practices and lack of farmer’s community approach appeared to be the main constraint in rodent management. Hence, to make the farmers as innovators with high levels of knowledge and skills in practices relating to rodent control, there is an urgent need of organizing training programmes to farmers and pesticide dealers. Field demonstrations, farmer’s interactions and developing united action among the farmers is essential for planning effective rodent control in larger stretches of land.