The rising water level in China's second largest freshwater
Dongting Lake, in the central Hunan
Province, since late May has driven a massive field rats
migration from their living islets to the southern cropland,
bringing about the area's gravest rat crisis in the last ten
years.
The rats rampantly nibbled the roots and stems of the crops,
making thousands of hectares of farmland useless.
The climate in the Dongting basin is temperate and rainfall is
plentiful. The alluvial plain around the lake makes it one of
China's major rice and cotton bases.
People used to see the pleasing harvest of the early season rice
and smell the luring scents of melons in June; yet what the Xinhua
reporter saw in the Nangang Village of Yuanjiang City's Chapanzhou
Township was large areas of sapless rice.
Walking on the field ridges, one can always see a flock of rats
leaping up from the weeds. The farmers had to leave their own work
and kept driving the rats away with wooden sticks.
But their efforts seem next to futile. The rats teased the
people by walloping from one hollow to another, which are thickly
dotted on the rice land.
"A great number of field rats which lived on the islets of
Dongting Lake migrated to the farmland due to the rising water
level of the lake. The rats live on the roots and stems of grass
and crop and the rice seedlings are delicacies to them," said
WangYong, a researcher at Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
According to the township's vegetation protection station, there
are about 300 to 500 rats in each mu (0.067 hectare) of
the farmland. In some cropland, the number could exceed 1000.
"Our family has three mu (0.2 hectare) of early rice. In the
past each mu could produce more than 400 kilograms of rice, but
this year we may gain nothing," said Zhang Guocai, farmer of the
township's Suhutou Village with a bitter look on his face.
Villager Wu Chuanxi ground his teeth when mentioning the rats,
"we have nearly three mu of paddy but one third were destroyed by
the rats within a few days. The rats are just like robbers."
The seven mu (0.47 hectare) of early rice grown by villager Nie
Qiulin was ravaged by the rats and less than one third was
left.
"Countless rats rushed to raid my rice land. They crazily
nibbled the crop. Some even can not find the place to lay their
feet and just stayed on the back of others," said Nie, who recalled
the scene to be "terrifying."
The latest statistics from Chapanzhou Township said about 20,000
mu (1333 hectares) of farmland were hit by the rats, in which 1500
mu (100 hectares) were completely destroyed and will end in
fruitlessness.
"Some other crops like pumpkins, water melons, cotton and aspen
seedlings are also involved in the terrible disaster," said Liu
Guoteng, vice secretary of Yuanjiang City Committee.
The official said the rats have ravaged 65,000 mu (4333
hectares) of farmland in the city, including 32,000 mu (2133
hectares) of early rice, which will soon be harvested.
The rats calamity has already pervaded the city's 40 villages of
six townships.
At the same time, the Datonghu District and Ziyang District of
the city of Yiyang also reported suffering from a massive rat
calamity.
Ye Rennan, vice director of the agricultural and water resources
bureau of Datonghu District, said more than 30,000 mu (2000
hectares) of farmland was "visited by the rats."
The local vegetation protection station said in some places
every square meter can see ten to fifteen rats, which means 6000
rats per mu (0.067 hectare).
More than 100,000 mu (about 6666.7 hectares) of farmland to the
south of the Dongting Lake was ravaged by the rats this summer and
Chinese Academy of Sciences Researcher Wang Yong said it is the
most serious rat calamity in this area since 1995.
The local government had taken some actions in order to bring
the disaster under control but the situation still seems to be
worsening.
Xinhua reporters saw the officials counting the tails of rats in
the government of Shapanzhou Township. An official said the farmers
handed in more than 1000 rat tails in two days and for each one
they could get 0.2 yuan (two cents) pay.
Governments of all levels in the area are trying every method
possible to eliminate the rats.
Shapanzhou Township has already allocated 170,000 yuan (about
US$20,556) in a fight against the rampant rats. The costly actions
have already made it difficult for some governments to make ends
meet.
Experts said that the field rats reproduced at tremendous speeds
on the islets of Dongting Lake in recent years due to its long-time
low water level. Along with the rising water, more rats will invade
the nearby farmland.
When the water level returns to its lower state, there will
emerge another massive migration back to the islets, which is also
probable to form a calamity, the experts said.
Wang said the governments of all levels around the Dongting Lake
should establish a regular monitoring and reporting system on the
rat situation.
At the same time, experts are also warning the local epidemic
prevention departments to be highly alert of the possible epidemic
diseases coming with the rat calamity.
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(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2005)