Farmers in four regencies have been left reeling with failed crops after rats struck 300 hectares of rice paddies in Banyumas, Central Java, over the past two weeks.

On Friday, provincial agriculture agency official Tri Gunawan said rats usually only attacked 2- to 3-month-old rice stalks.

"We don't know the real cause of this.

"Usually the rats attack paddies that do not have the same planting season as others," he said.

The staggered planting seasons mean the rats are constantly supplied with food.

Tri said his office had encou-raged farming communities to handle the rats using conventional methods.

ask farmers to ambush the rats together. Although they may not be able to kill them all, at least the effort can help reduce the rat population," he said.

Tri also pointed to the decreasing number of the rats' predators, particularly snakes. has made the rat number keep increasing," he said.

Many villagers hunt snakes for commercial purposes. A single snake can fetch between Rp 20,000 (US$2) and Rp 50,000, depending on the species and size.

The farmers are livid about the rat attacks. is unbelievable. It seems the number of rats never decreases. We kill a lot of them - we put their bodies in sacks. still their numbers remain big. I don't know where they come from," Sumadi, a 34-year-old farmer in Karang Tengah village, Banyumas regency, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He also vented his fury over the rats entering villagers' homes.

"The whole village has waged war against the rats. They steal food from our kitchens," he said.

He added he could kill up to seven rats a day with rat traps. they get into the house through our windows," he said.

Another farmer, Tukiran, 50, lamented the failed crops on his 5,000-square-meter rice paddy destroyed by the rats.

"I just checked my paddy. It's a mess. We lost big this time," he said.

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