Bangladesh crowns top rat killer

A farmer has been crowned Bangladesh's champion rat catcher of 2009 after leading a team which he says killed more than 80,000 rodents in a month. Mokhairul Islam was awarded a colour television at a ceremony attended by 500 farmers and officials in Dhaka.

He said he had disposed of 83,450 rats - more than double the tally set for all of last year. The authorities launched the annual competition in an attempt to reduce the amount of crops eaten by rats.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world and experts say rats consume about 10% of its crops every year. Mr Islam - a wealthy farmer who owns about 300 acres of land and six poultry farms near the capital - said it was a great honour to receive the award.



He described rats as "the most feared enemy for farmers" and said he had mainly used poison to kill them. "Since killing the rats, I've saved loads of money on poultry feed and have better crops," the victorious 40-year-old said after collecting his prize.

Officials say Islam deposited the dead rodents' tails at the agriculture office Mrin Gazipur district where he lives. There were so many decaying tails that his figure of 83,450 had to be taken on trust.

"We couldn't count all the tails because of the stench," local agriculture official Abbas Ali said.