Pest Management Science (2017) 73, 318-324

Nyo Me Htwe, Grant R. Singleton and Pyai Phyo Maw (2017)
Post-harvest impacts of rodents in Myanmar; how much rice do they eat and damage?
Pest Management Science 73 (2), 318-324
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
We undertook studies on post-harvest losses by rodents in two townships in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar. Farmers harvest their monsoon rice crop and then stack it on levee banks to await threshing 4–6 weeks later. After threshing and drying, paddy rice is stored in granaries. The amount of grain stored in burrows was collected 4 weeks after harvest by excavating burrows. In grain stores, we quantified the weight of grain consumed by rodents for 3–6 months post-harvest.
RESULTS
The dominant species in the field were Bandicota bengalensis and B. indica, whereas in grain stores the dominant species were Rattus rattus and R. exulans. The mean grain stored by rodents in burrows was 1.49 ± 0.9 kg burrow^-1 in 2013 and 1.41 ± 0.7 kg burrow^-1 in 2014. The mean loss of grain in granaries was higher in Daik U (14% in 2013, 4% in 2014) than in Maubin (8.2% in 2013, 1.2% in 2014). The total amount of grain lost to rodents during piling and storing could feed households for 1.6–4 months.
CONCLUSION
Post-harvest losses of grain is a significant food security issue for smallholder farmers in Myanmar. Community rodent management and better rodent-proofing of granaries are recommended to reduce losses caused by rodents.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Nyo Me Htwe, Grant Robert Singleton

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rattus rattus	Stored grain	Myanmar
	Bandicota bengalensis	Rice (Oryza)	Myanmar
	Rattus exulans	Stored grain	Myanmar
	Bandicota indica	Rice (Oryza)	Myanmar