Farmers' perspectives of rodent damage and management from the highlands of Tigray,Northern Ethiopian |
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Authors: | Meheretu Yonas Kiros Welegerima Seppe Deckers Dirk Raes Rhodes Makundi Herwig Leirs |
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Institution: | 1. Mekelle University, Department of Biology, P. O. box 3102 Mekelle, Ethiopia;2. University of Antwerp, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerpen 2020, Belgium;3. Division of Soil and Water Management, K.U. Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium;4. Sokoine University of Agriculture, Pest Management Center, P. O. Box 3110, Morogoro, Tanzania;5. Danish Pest Infestation Laboratory, Lyngby, Denmark |
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Abstract: | A farmers' knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey was conducted in the highlands of Tigray, northern Ethiopia, to better understand rodent damage and rodent management from the farmers' perspective. Farmers (n = 191) from Dogu'a Temben district, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The large majority of the farmers stated that rodents are the main pests in crop fields (92.1%) and storage (88.5%). The farmers (64.2%) reported they experienced 100–500 kg ha−1 damage in crop fields, which is equivalent to 8.9–44.7% loss in annual production. There was some overlap between the most common crops grown in the highlands and the most common crops susceptible to rodent attack. Farmers identified barley as the crop most susceptible to rodent attack (76.4%) and the booting stage as the crop developmental stage with the highest rodent abundance and damage. Rodenticide application was the most commonly practiced management strategy in crop fields (51.8%); in storage, farmers mainly keep domestic cats around granaries (80.6%). We recommend a reduction in reliance on chemical rodenticide in crop fields and a shift to a more sustainable rodent management approach to reduce rodent numbers and damage. |
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Keywords: | Highlands of Tigray Farmers' perspectives Rodent damage Rodent management |
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