Farmers and villagers hunted and killed thousands of rice-field rats during the program.
Braja Selebah, Lampung (ANTARA News) - Farmers in Braja Luhur Village, East Lampung District, are a busy lot as the "Gropyok Tikus," or joint rat-hunting program, comes to an end on Friday.

Farmers and villagers hunted and killed thousands of rice-field rats during the program.

Braja Luhur Village Head Supratikno said here that Friday was the last day of the "Gropyok Tikus" program. "Over the last seven days (of the program), we managed to catch around 5 thousand rats from rice fields in Braja Luhur Village".

The villagers did not use any sophisticated method to catch rodents. They just dug rats holes and trapped them.

"We hope the rodent population will decrease before we enter the growing season next month," Supratikno noted.

After the next harvest and before the second growing season in the year, Supratikno remarked, the villagers will organize another joint rat-hunt program.

Besides local farmers, students from 24 sub districts and several local police personnel also participated in the program.

Chief of Braja Luhur Police Sector Station Ipda SI Marbun stated here Friday that he along with three local policemen had participated in the rodent-hunting program.

"We went there as part of the Braja Selebah Polices support to the local farmers efforts to control the population of rice-field rats and also to bring us closer to the public," Marbun explained.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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