Bali Farmers Use Owls to Control Pest Population

Tabanan (Antara Bali) - The farmers of Pagi Village in Tabanan District of Bali have been using owls in their crop fields to control the population of pests.

Putu Arga, a local resident, stated here on Friday that the presence of owls in the center of the crop field had been highly beneficial for the local farmers as the bird of prey was capable of hunting down pests, such as rodents, which were harmful to the plants.

The local people are training owls to develop their pest-catching skills in the village of Penebel Sub-district.

"We train the owls to hunt rats. Once they have mastered the skill, we release them back to nature," Arga remarked.

The method has proven to be helpful in reducing the population of rodents in the local crop fields, Arga noted.

Balinese are known to be superstitious people and strictly follow their traditions.

Besides sharing a mutually symbiotic relationship with the owls, the local people also play the traditional instrumental music called gamelan to drive away pests from their crop fields.

Arga affirmed that by adopting the two methods, the pest population had reduced and had helped to prevent losses to the farmers. (WDY)