suggested that the likelihood of
adoption and sustainability of integrated rodent
management was associated with the severity of the
rodent problem. Linked to this idea is the relationship
between pest density and yield loss, which is
fundamental in developing effective management
strategies for rodents in field crops but is poorly
understood (Hone, 1994; Brown and Singleton, 2002).
The relationship between rodent abundance and crop
damage in irrigated rice ecosystems needs to be
defined with a view to estimate the costs and benefits
of rodent density reduction.