Bangladesh crowns top rat killer

Farmer with a dead rat at Wedensday's prize giving ceremony

Farmers across Bangladesh are encouraged to kill as many rats as possible

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 told the BBC 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.

'Enemy'

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.

Bangladeshi farmer Mokhairul Islam (R) receives a colour television from Agriculture Minister of Bangladesh Motia Chowdhury (L) at a ceremony in Dhaka.

Mr Islam receives his award in Dhaka

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 told BBC Bengali after collecting his prize.

Mr Islam told the AFP news agency his livelihood was at stake.

"The rats ravage our farms. If I see one, I don't even stop to think. I just go for it and kill it. I am so happy to get this honour."

Officials say Mr Islam deposited the dead rodents' tails at the agriculture office in Gazipur district where he lives.

There were so many decaying tails that his figure of 83,450 had to be taken on trust.

Wednesday's prize giving ceremony attracted many onlookers

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

There are also some doubts over whether the feat took just a month.

Mr Islam told the BBC it had been performed during February - other reports said it had been carried out in the first eight months of this year.

But officials were in no doubt he had smashed the existing record. That stood at 39,650 dead rats and was set by another farmer, Binoy Kumar Karmakar, in 2008.