Abstract
The house rat (Rattus rattus) of the order ‘rodentia’ and family ‘muridae’, is one of the major vertebrate pests of agriculture
and stored grains, inhabiting the main agro-ecosystems of the world. In Pakistan, damage has also been reported on a variety
of economically important crops and stored grains. In an agricultural complex of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
comprising the canal irrigated plantations, infestations of house rat was assessed under the controlled and treated (trap
barrier) situation for the mature stage of rice (Oryza sativa L.), to assess the inhibited damage. Seemingly, for the one acre
control plot, house rat depredations remained high (16.27±0.49), while in the trap barrier phase, there was a considerable
decline (2.89±0.24) with respect to the rat damage. Average trap success ratios (TSRs) in the unprotected conditions, were
fairly intensive (101.67±3.06), but were significantly reduced (18.08±1.47) in the trap barrier applied rice plot. The present
results indicated that, implications of ecologically based rodent management strategies provided dividends on a small
landscape, but may also be beneficial over multiple cropping systems, on both agricultural and horticultural food sources, not
only throughout the region of Central Punjab, but also over throughout Pakistan, to maintain crop sustainability, without
serious impacts on the productivity of agro-ecosystems.
