ILOILO CITY, Iloilo (PNA) - The Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) reported yesterday that the rat infestation in the province has gotten to alarming levels, with 3,696 hectares now affected.
PAO chief Dr. Ildefonso Toledo said that rat attacks have been affecting all five districts of the province because of the "availability of food."
"We had continuous planting of palay and so the rat population has increased," Toledo said.
Most of the farmlands being attacked by rats are planted with palay that are in the vegetative to reproductive stage.
Toledo said the 3,696 hectares affected area is equivalent to 1.30 percent of the total rice area of Iloilo province which is 127,000 hectares.
