Rats damage 17 lakh tonne of food grain in Punjab annually

Rats have literally driven a hole in the foodgrain stock of Punjab, destroying over ten lakh tonne of crops on an annual basis.

"Rodents, which are a serious problem for the farming sector, damage 4 per cent, 3.7 per cent and 11 per cent of wheat, rice and sugarcane output respectively every year in Punjab," said H S Sehgal, Head, Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at Ludhiana.

Rats destroy almost 5.87 lakh tonne of wheat, 3.86 lakh tonne of rice and 7.21 lakh tonne of sugarcane while contaminating the crop with their faeces, urine and fur, he said.

The worst hit regions are Ludhiana, Kapurthala and Nawanshahar where wheat crop is grown, he said, adding wheat crop was more vulnerable to the attack due to adoption of zero tillage technique by state farmers for wheat sowing.

"Ever since, farmers have switched over to zero tillage technique of wheat sowing, the attacks have compounded," he said.