CREES holds workshop on rodenticides

Farmers in the CNMI who want to learn more about controlling the rat population in their farms can soon attend a workshop on the issue.

Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Education and Extension Service agricultural consultant Isidoro Cabrera said local farmers are invited to attend a one-day workshop on the proper application of rodenticides to control the rat infestation in their crops.

The workshop will be held next Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Kagman Agricultural Station in Kagman. Cabrera said NMC-CREES found the need to gather all the farmers for this workshop so that they can follow proper procedures in applying the chemicals to prevent and eradicate rats in their farm fields.

Cabrera said for those who are interested to attend the workshop and to know more information about the upcoming workshop, they may contact him through tel. no. 287-0571 or through the Department of Lands and Natural Resources office.

Craig Smith of NMC-CREES earlier said the brochures, “Rodent Bait Station Information” and “Rat Control for Saipan, Rota and Tinian,” would soon be distributed to homeowners and farmers whose farms and homes are infested with rats. He said the brochures aim to inform farmers and homeowners of the proper way to prepare the baits that CREES had developed to eradicate the pests from farmlands.

Smith prepared the brochures in cooperation with DLNR’s Division of Agriculture and NMC-CREES.

The Rodent Bait Station Information brochure provides information on how to build the bait stations that Smith had designed. It will also teach farmers to always have pre-bait and water in the station and how to prepare them for more effective attraction to rodents. The brochure would also guide farmers on how to build protective borders around their crops and which baits are most effective to use.

There are two common rodents infesting the crops of local farmers: the Norway Rats, which burrows, and Roof Rats, which live on trees.

“Farmers need to be more clever than the rats,” Smith said.

He said, though, that his traps are not to be used in villages, especially if rodenticides are used as a method of suppression. The products may be fatal if swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

Smith said that when rats eat the baits, they might crawl to houses, endangering human health when used near villages.

The other brochure informs farmers about the different rodents on the island, their descriptions, habitats, population and control.

NMC-CREES was awarded $20,000 last August to fund rodent control measures. Smith said the money would act as a revolving fund for rodent control in the CNMI.