Rodents on the rampage have destroyed paddy fields of about a hundred farmers in Mudon Township near the Gulf of Martaban Sea in Mon State southern Burma (Myanmar).
 
According to a farmer from Wekale village Mudon Township about 18 miles southern Moulmein (Mawlamyine, the capital of Mon State), "Paddy fields which are close to the sea were damaged more than other farms."  
 
Paddy fields in the costal villages of Wekale, Ba- lough, and Nyaung wine located on the shores of the Martaban Sea were damaged by rats.  
 
A farmer said an acre of his farm had been damaged by rats which have destroyed at last one acre of each farmer. He estimated that rodents have eaten about four pyi (Burmese measurement) of seedlings per acre and more than 100 acres of paddy had been destroyed.
 
A woman farmer from Nyaung wine field said the most affected areas are where good smell emanates from paddy varieties like Pawsan Hmwe seedling fields. Some of her paddy field has been damaged by rats.
 
Floods and rains have not acted as a deterrent to rats. The destruction by rats continues despite water levels falling.
 
According to a local farmer, they have never gone through this in the past. They have had to deal with crabs and a few rats. Villagers said they can't kill the rats and are looking for ways to solve the problem.
 
Local people also tried to drive away the rats from the fields in traditional ways such as using water, stone, sand, and staked off the ground plan over which mantras have been recited for therapeutic effect.