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Farmer survey in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on rodent crop damage and rodent control techniques used

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Published/Copyright: October 6, 2008
Mammalia
From the journal Volume 72 Issue 3

Abstract

We conducted a survey on rodent crop damage among farmers in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo). We studied the amount of crop damage, the rodent groups causing crop damage, the growth stages affected and the control techniques used. We conducted this survey in three municipalities using a standard questionnaire form translated into local languages, between November 2005 and June 2006 and during July 2007. We used the Quotas method and interviewed 70 households per municipality. Farmers indicated rodent groups implicated in crop damage on color photographs. Two types of survey techniques were used: individual and focus-group surveys. The sugar cane rat, Thryonomys sp. and Lemniscomys striatus caused most damage to crops, but inside granaries, Rattus rattus was the primary pest species eating stored food supplies and causing damage to stored goods. Cassava and maize were the most cultivated crops, followed by rice. Maize and rice are the most vulnerable during the heading stage. The most usable part of cassava (tubers) was attacked less often. Farmers mostly applied traditional trapping techniques, using local snap traps to decrease rodent abundance and sometimes used a labor-intensive trap-barrier system to trap Thryonomys. Inside buildings (granaries), farmers used chemical control methods.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of Congo; focus-group; interview; rodent pests; Thryonomys
Corresponding author
Published Online: 2008-10-06
Published in Print: 2008-09-01

©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Preface
  2. Preface
  3. Original Studies
  4. Polyandry and polygyny in an African rodent pest species, Mastomys natalensis
  5. Social relationships in Mastomys huberti as deduced from field and genetic analyses of multiple capture data
  6. Dietary selection in Mastomys natalensis (Rodentia: Muridae) in the maize agro-ecosystems of central and southwestern Tanzania
  7. Diversity and distribution of rodent and shrew species associated with variations in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
  8. Correlating small mammal community characteristics and habitat integrity in the Caledon Nature Reserve, South Africa
  9. Farmer survey in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on rodent crop damage and rodent control techniques used
  10. Ecology and ethnozoology of the three-cusped pangolin Manis tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota) in the Lama forest reserve, Benin
  11. Shrew trap efficiency: experience from primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow land and old palm plantation in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  12. Microgeographical distribution of shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, D.R. Congo)
  13. The presence of Praomys, Lophuromys, and Deomys species (Muridae, Mammalia) in the forest blocks separated by the Congo River and its tributaries (Kisangani region, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  14. Morphometric characterization of the Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys Waterhouse 1840) in the forest zone of South Western Nigeria
  15. Taxonomy and biogeography of the African Pygmy mice, Subgenus Nannomys (Rodentia, Murinae, Mus) in Ivory Coast and Guinea (West Africa)
  16. Potential mammalian reservoirs in a bubonic plague outbreak focus in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in 2007
  17. Short Note
  18. Sustainable small stock farming and ecosystem conservation in southern Africa: a role for small mammals?
  19. Book Reviews
  20. Book Reviews
  21. Meeting announcements
  22. 10.1515/MAMM.2008.013
https://doi.org/10.1515/MAMM.2008.034
Keywords for this article
Democratic Republic of Congo; focus-group; interview; rodent pests; Thryonomys

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Preface
  2. Preface
  3. Original Studies
  4. Polyandry and polygyny in an African rodent pest species, Mastomys natalensis
  5. Social relationships in Mastomys huberti as deduced from field and genetic analyses of multiple capture data
  6. Dietary selection in Mastomys natalensis (Rodentia: Muridae) in the maize agro-ecosystems of central and southwestern Tanzania
  7. Diversity and distribution of rodent and shrew species associated with variations in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
  8. Correlating small mammal community characteristics and habitat integrity in the Caledon Nature Reserve, South Africa
  9. Farmer survey in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on rodent crop damage and rodent control techniques used
  10. Ecology and ethnozoology of the three-cusped pangolin Manis tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota) in the Lama forest reserve, Benin
  11. Shrew trap efficiency: experience from primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow land and old palm plantation in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  12. Microgeographical distribution of shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, D.R. Congo)
  13. The presence of Praomys, Lophuromys, and Deomys species (Muridae, Mammalia) in the forest blocks separated by the Congo River and its tributaries (Kisangani region, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  14. Morphometric characterization of the Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys Waterhouse 1840) in the forest zone of South Western Nigeria
  15. Taxonomy and biogeography of the African Pygmy mice, Subgenus Nannomys (Rodentia, Murinae, Mus) in Ivory Coast and Guinea (West Africa)
  16. Potential mammalian reservoirs in a bubonic plague outbreak focus in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in 2007
  17. Short Note
  18. Sustainable small stock farming and ecosystem conservation in southern Africa: a role for small mammals?
  19. Book Reviews
  20. Book Reviews
  21. Meeting announcements
  22. 10.1515/MAMM.2008.013
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