CropsFarmers in Kaunia, Rangpur, set dhaincha plants, branches and bamboo sticks in their Aman fields so that insect-eating birds can perch and pick off pests, cutting their pesticide bills.
CropsIn Dinajpur Sadar, branches and bamboo stakes in Aman fields give magpie robins, drongos and mynas a perch to hunt insects; about 65 percent of farmers use the cost-free method, extension officers say.
CropsIn March 2017 the agriculture extension office in Sirajganj reported about 56,890 hectares under perching and 425 light traps, as farmers in the Chalan Beel area cut back on pesticides.
Perching, which gives insect-eating birds places to sit in rice fields, now covers about 60 percent of Khulna's Aman land, cutting farmers' pesticide use sharply.
