Rice farmers in Southeast Asia are hesitant to adopt the water-saving technology, alternate wetting and drying (AWD), for fear the practice will lead to increased rodent pest activity, consequently exacerbating yield loss. We examined the effects of AWD on the population dynamics, habitat use and damage levels inflicted on rice crops by the most important rodent pest of rice in Indonesia and the Philippines, Rattus argentiventer and R. tanezumi, respectively. Rice crop damage levels were not affected by the water management scheme employed. Rodent activity in rice fields was not influenced by water level. Both species tended to use the rice paddies over bunds regardless of water level, indicating that something other than water affects their habitat use, and we argue it is likely that the perceived risk of predation is the primary factor driving habitat use. Activity levels and damage inflicted by rodent pests on rice were not correlated. AWD had no effect on breeding and population dynamics of these species. Breeding of R. argentiventer is tied to the growth stages of rice, while available resource dictates breeding by R. tanezumi. Our findings clearly indicate that rice farmers in both Indonesia and the Philippines have no cause to reject AWD based on concerns that AWD would exacerbate crop losses by rodents. Given AWD is being promoted as a climate-smart technology for rice production in Asia and Africa, we strongly recommend its adoption without concerns that it would aggravate rodent pest impacts in lowland irrigated rice cropping systems.

中文翻译：

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节水技术，湿润和干燥交替作用不会对水稻作物造成鼠类破坏

东南亚的稻农不愿采用节水技术，而是采用交替湿润和干燥（AWD）技术，因为这种做法会导致啮齿动物害虫活动增加，从而加剧产量损失。我们研究了AWD对印度尼西亚和菲律宾最重要的水稻啮齿类害虫Rattus Argentiventer和R. tanezumi对水稻作物造成的种群动态，栖息地使用和损害水平的影响。， 分别。水稻作物的危害程度不受所采用的水管理计划的影响。稻田中的鼠类活动不受水位的影响。不管水位高低，这两个物种都倾向于在外滩上使用稻田，这表明水以外的其他因素会影响其栖息地的利用，我们认为掠夺风险是驱动栖息地利用的主要因素。啮齿类害虫对水稻的活性水平和破坏程度没有相关性。AWD对这些物种的繁殖和种群动态没有影响。R. argentiventer的育种与水稻的生长阶段有关，而可用资源决定了R. tanezumi的育种。我们的发现清楚地表明，印度尼西亚和菲律宾的稻农没有理由拒绝AWD，原因是担心AWD会加剧啮齿动物的作物损失。鉴于AWD在亚洲和非洲正在作为一种气候智能技术在水稻生产中得到推广，因此我们强烈建议采用AWD，而无需担心会加剧低地灌溉水稻种植系统中的啮齿动物害虫影响。