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Experts highlight crucial benefits of barn owls in rat control
Rat killer: A barn owl, locally known as a serak Jawa, perches watchfully on a branch
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Rat killer: A barn owl, locally known as a serak Jawa, perches watchfully on a branch. Farmers in Cancangan village, Wukirsari, Sleman regency, have begun to use barn owls to control an infestation of rats in their paddy fields. (JP/Bambang Muryanto) (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
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span class="inline inline-center">Rat killer: A barn owl, locally known as a serak Jawa, perches watchfully on a branch. Farmers in Cancangan village, Wukirsari, Sleman regency, have begun to use barn owls to control an infestation of rats in their paddy fields. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
Experts have urged the government to encourage farmers to optimize the use of barn owls, locally known as serak Jawa, to control the presence of rats in paddy fields.
This simple and natural rat control method can help the government achieve its goal of achieving food self-sufficiency, they claim.
'Since incorporating barn owls, rat attacks have reduced significantly. The amount of paddy fields affected by rats have declined to only between 10 and 15 percent of our 25 hectares of farmland,' Bavid Margo Utomo, head of Margo Mulyo farming group in Cancangan village, Wukirsari, Sleman regency, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He said the Margo Mulyo group, in cooperation with Raptor Club Indonesia (RCI), started using barn owls, one of the most widely distributed species of owl, in 2013. Prior to using barn owls for rat control, farmers in Cancangan village often experienced failed harvests.
'Around 85 percent of food crops, such as paddy, red chili, corn and cucumber, get destroyed by rats,' said Bavid.
Yogyakarta agriculture research and development data released in January 2014 said that around 7,200 of 48,000 hectares of farmland in Sleman regency had experienced rat attacks, inflicting losses of100,000 tons of paddy every year.
Bavid said every night, around 12 barn owls released hunted rats in farmland in Cancangan village. The farming group has also prohibited the hunting of barn owls, imposing an Rp 12.5 million (US$990.2) fine on violators.
RCI conservation head Lim Wen Sim said barn owls were very effective in rat control. From midnight until dawn, an adult barn owl kept in a cage can kill around 100 rats.
'Barn owls are rat killers. They just kill the rats, they don't eat them,' said Lim. (ebf)(+++)
