Barn owl nest box project aims to protect padi fields from rat menace

The Star

6 days ago

Handle with care: Hasber (right) demonstrating to Abdul Aziz how to hold barn owls correctly, with a nest box seen in the background. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
KEPALA BATAS: Every padi planting season, farmer Abdul Aziz Hashim endures sleepless nights worrying about the crops on his 2ha padi field.
Besides the unpredictable weather, thousands of rats have been destroying his crop, slashing his income by nearly 50%.
"These rats usually come out at night and feast on the matured padi. It gets worse during harvest time.
"I have tried using pesticides and rat poison to try to eliminate the pests.
"I spend thousands of ringgit each planting season just to protect my crops," the 43-year-old lamented.
However, Abdul Aziz, who has been a farmer for about 20 years, now realises that the use of chemicals is harmful to the environment and health.
"Pesticides do not only contaminate the padi fields but also pollute the surroundings and kill other animals," he said.
Farmers like Abdul Aziz are now relieved that they can now consider a more friendly form of rat control: using Eastern barn owls to hunt the rats.
Native to Peninsular Malaysia, the Eastern barn owl's voracious appetite for rats helps protect crops.
This pilot project by Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) Barn Owl and Rodent Research Group (BORG) will see 20 barn owl nest boxes installed at fields belonging to farmers under the B40 group in Paya Keladi, Kepala Batas.
The nest boxes are designed to attract owls to nest in them without additional human intervention, with Abdul Aziz saying the new method will help manage the rodent population effectively.
"It will reduce the need for chemical poisons," he explained.
"Although the use of barn owls was practised in the past by local farmers, there was little to no monitoring of rodent problems in the fields, which made it harder for farmers to protect their crops."
USM's Assoc Prof Dr Hasber Salim said his team initiated the project to help farmers adopt environmentally friendly practices.
"Rat damage can reduce yields by up to 60%. With barn owls present, farmers experience less crop loss, which translates to higher income and better quality harvests as one barn owl family can hunt up to 3,000 rats per year,' he said.
Under this pilot project carried out in collaboration with Malaysia's national rice agency Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), each nest box can serve an area of about 5ha to 10ha.
Each nest setup costs about RM800, depending on location and logistics, with funding made possible through a RM42,671 (US$10,000) grant from GlobalGiving, a US-based non-­governmental organisation.
The project will be monitored over a period of three years.
Each week, BORG members will collect owl pellets – regurgitated remains of prey – to identify the species of rats consumed and estimate the number of pests removed.
'We will analyse the pellets to get actual data.
'That's how we estimate that a single owl family can eat up to 3,000 rats a year,' he said.
Hasber added that the initiative draws on past experience of using barn owls in oil palm plantations under a similar conservation project with the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation.
"Although barn owls have been used in padi fields since the 1970s, the practice has been largely neglected in recent years.
'We're bringing back a proven concept but with improved planning and monitoring,' he said.
Hasber added that instead of using the outdated density of one nest per 40ha, his team is now using a high-density model of one nest per five to 10ha.