Crop damage and yield loss caused by two species of rodents in irrigated fields in northern Nigeria

Abstract

We investigated the damage and yield loss caused by two rodent species, Arvicanthis niloticus and Mastomys (Praomys) natalensis, in cereal crops in fields near Kano, northern Nigeria from August, 1990 to April, 1992. Using the random cluster technique, we selected 100 clusters of 30 hills in each rice and wheat field, and assessed damage fortnightly, using the Cut Tiller Count method. In premature crops, damage increased from tillering stages to the dough stages. Differences in the percentages of damage (yield loss) in mature rice (4.8% in 1990 and 12.6% in 1991) and in wheat (30.0% in 1991 and 21.7% in 1992) were statistically significant between years. Severe yield losses in wheat, compared to low and moderate levels in rice (grown for the most part during the rains), were probably a result of greater consumption of the wheat, grown entirely by irrigation during the dry season when other rodent food sources were less abundant. Results of ANOVA showed significant effects of developmental stage of the crop, year of cultivation, and their interactions on the magnitude of crop damage.

Keywords:

• Arvicanthis
• Mastomys
• rice/wheat crop damage
• irrigation
• Nigeria

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the African Dissertation Internship Awards Program of the Rockefeller Foundation for financial support of the field project and to both Old Dominion University and Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria for administrative support. We thank the farmers and officials of the Kano River Project, Nigeria, for their cooperation and M. M. Malam, M. N. Nwaiko and M. M. Garko for their assistance with field work.