Reproductive potential and developmental stages of Bandicota indica from four villages in four Townships in Magway Region, Myanmar

Abstract

The rodents represent 43% of species diversity within the class Mammalia are recognized by Wilson and Reeder.1 Approximately 20 species of rodents have been recorded in Myanmar.1 Rodents represent major pest problems worldwide, both in the countryside and in the cities. They do, for instance, cause serious damage to crops (such as cereals, root crops, cotton and sugarcane) both before and after harvest.3 Rodents typically have short gestation period, with high litter sizes and ability to become full pregnant again after a few days of delivery. These factors alone would ensure a high reproductive potential. However, many rodents also attain sexual maturity at very early ages, due mainly to rapid growth during the first few weeks of life.2 Rodents cause severe damage to various crops both directly and indirectly by gnawing, spoilage, contamination and hoarding activities. Rodents can adjust to the cropping system, establishing during the initial period of the crop, breeding during crop growing period, capable of rapid population growth and emigration after crop harvest depending upon food availability.4 The effect of rodent’s damage cause huge amount of losses and food shortages in some parts of the world.5 Myanmar is an agricultural country and rice, maize, oilseed, sugarcane, and pulses are the main crops. Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Myanmar’s economy.6 Most rodents are agricultural pests, therefore the knowledge of their reproductive activities is necessary to control pest effectively and very important to understand abundance changes of rats and mice in specific cropping systems.