Md. Shah Alam
Senior Scientific Officer
Vertebrate Pest Division, BARI,
Dr. Gobinda Chandra Biswas
Principal Scientific Officer
Vertebrate Pest Division, BARI,
The experiment was conducted to study the effectiveness of zinc phosphide poison bait (Zinc Phos 80%) found from pesticide company. In “choice” test the per cent mortality of the Bandicoot rat was only 65% in case of ‘Zinc Phos 80%’ which is not suitable for recommendation for controlling rat due to below standard (<80% control).
Efficacy, Zinc Phos 80%, control, rat
Vertebrate Pest Division, BARI, Gazipur
Pest Management
i) To evaluate the efficacy of Zinc Phos 80% for controlling rodent
Two types of test were conducted for this test i.e. choice test and field test. Bandicoot rats, Bandicota bengalensis (Gray), were collected by trapping from different poultry farms of Kapasia Upazilla, and were kept in 40 X 25 X 18 cm rearing cage in the laboratory. These rats were later used for conducting "Choice test".
Choice test: “Zinc Phos 80%” bait contains 80% zinc phosphide as an active ingredient. 2% zinc phosphide poison bait was formulated from the supplied specimen according to standard method. The choice feeding tests were conducted in the laboratory using 20 (10 male and 10 female) acclimatized adult rats. Six hours starved rats were exposed individually to poison bait in a food cup for 24 hours. Two food cups were provided to each animal, one cup containing 25g of poison bait and the other containing 25g of plain wheat grains. Each rodenticide was supplied for two consecutive days and the plain wheat grain was provided up to end of the experiment (up to 3 days). After consuming bait material or wheat grains remaining substances were collected in a paper placed beneath the cages and weighted. Water was supplied at ad libitum. Consumption of bait material or food and mortalities of the test rats were recorded every day.
No field test was done because the laboratory bioassay test was not satisfactory, because mortality of the rats should have been 80%.
VPD, BARI annual Report-2013
Twenty thousands
Choice test: In case of “Zinc Phos 80%”, out of ten male and ten female rats, 7 male and 6 female rats were died within 24 hours (Table-1). “Zinc Phos 80%”showed only 65% average rat mortality in choice feeding test at laboratory trial, which was not up to the mark (80%).
The results of the present experiment indicated that “Zinc Phos 80%”was not the effective rodenticides and this rodenticide cannot be recommended for controlling field rats in Bangladesh.
Report/Proceedings