The agriculture minister Motiya Chowdhury informed parliament on Sunday during an answer to question session that rats devoured agricultural produces valued some 724 crore Taka in the 2014-15 fiscal year

Rats are no small menace

The agriculture minister Motiya Chowdhury informed parliament on Sunday during an answer to question session that rats devoured agricultural produce valued some 724 crore Taka in the 2014-15 fiscal year. She told the lawmakers that rats devoured mainly paddy, rice and wheat in this period.
The figure clearly is a huge one. Understandably, one should feel outraged to learn that such a colossal wastage can be caused by these tiny creatures who are among the top enemies of farmers.
Five times this figure, would mean, rats destroying over 2,425 crore taka of agro products in the span of five years only. Just think about the total productivity gains in agriculture that could happen from rats being not around to do their mischief.
In that case, a large gain in productivity could be experienced. From greater output there would be less need to import the agro products destroyed or eaten up by the rats. The saving could mean quite a lot for the country’s balance of payment position. Individual farmers could earn more from selling increased output.
Thus, rats are clearly not to be looked upon as a small menace. They are a great threat to agricultural production and considering this factor urgent policies need to be drawn up to fast decimate the rat population.
The killing of rats can be made a social campaign at the fastest. Volunteer brigades can be organized at union level to embark on killing of rats on a large scale. A countrywide campaign may be taken up, monitored and conducted under the government’s Department of Agricultural Extension. Motivation is a big factor always in such campaigns. Hopefully, farmers and their families may come forward on their own to participate wholeheartedly in it. But a reward element could be very effective in enthusing the campaigners.  
For example, a reward of, say, taka five can be declared for each rat killed and shown to authorities of a local committee formed to distribute the cash awards. Of course, this operation should be supervised by the relevant department to ensure its scrupulous operation. There has to be mechanisms to burn or completely disintegrate the killed rats immediately so that none can fake by showing a dead rat twice. And the cash amount will need to be paid on the spot equally as fast.
There is a tendency in our country to look at waste in any form as an inevitability. People feel resigned to their fate. But how very wrong they are indeed. Only from changing attitude a lot can be accomplished.

The agriculture minister Motiya Chowdhury informed parliament on Sunday during an answer to question session that rats devoured agricultural produces valued some 724 crore Taka in the 2014-15 fiscal year

Rats are no small menace

The agriculture minister Motiya Chowdhury informed parliament on Sunday during an answer to question session that rats devoured agricultural produce valued some 724 crore Taka in the 2014-15 fiscal year. She told the lawmakers that rats devoured mainly paddy, rice and wheat in this period. The figure clearly is a huge one. Understandably, one should feel outraged to learn that such a colossal wastage can be caused by these tiny creatures who are among the top enemies of farmers. Five times this figure, would mean, rats destroying over 2,425 crore taka of agro products in the span of five years only. Just think about the total productivity gains in agriculture that could happen from rats being not around to do their mischief. In that case, a large gain in productivity could be experienced. From greater output there would be less need to import the agro products destroyed or eaten up by the rats. The saving could mean quite a lot for the countrys balance of payment position. Individual farmers could earn more from selling increased output. Thus, rats are clearly not to be looked upon as a small menace. They are a great threat to agricultural production and considering this factor urgent policies need to be drawn up to fast decimate the rat population. The killing of rats can be made a social campaign at the fastest. Volunteer brigades can be organized at union level to embark on killing of rats on a large scale. A countrywide campaign may be taken up, monitored and conducted under the governments Department of Agricultural Extension. Motivation is a big factor always in such campaigns. Hopefully, farmers and their families may come forward on their own to participate wholeheartedly in it. But a reward element could be very effective in enthusing the campaigners. For example, a reward of, say, taka five can be declared for each rat killed and shown to authorities of a local committee formed to distribute the cash awards. Of course, this operation should be supervised by the relevant department to ensure its scrupulous operation. There has to be mechanisms to burn or completely disintegrate the killed rats immediately so that none can fake by showing a dead rat twice. And the cash amount will need to be paid on the spot equally as fast. There is a tendency in our country to look at waste in any form as an inevitability. People feel resigned to their fate. But how very wrong they are indeed. Only from changing attitude a lot can be accomplished.