Thailand The procedure, which is quite a tradition, brings benefits for both breeders and farmers.
A video recorded from the air in the Thai province of Nakhon Pathom went viral, at the time when some 10,000 ducks were released in a rice field.
Traditionally, when farmers finish harvesting the fields, the breeders, in turn, release these birds, which instinctively head to flooded areas in search of pests such as snails, which hide there, Reuters reports.
The ducks are released after spending 20 days in a breeding center. They then spend about five months in the fields and then return to the farms to lay eggs for the next three years. It is a traditional method of linking the breeding of these birds in the region with the production of rice, called ‘ducks chasing fields’.
“The benefit (for the breeder) is that we reduce the costs of feeding the ducks,” explained breeder Apiwat Chalermklin. “And in return, for rice farmers, ducks help by eating pests, thereby reducing the use of chemicals and pesticides,” he added.
“The ducks also tread the rice stubble, flattening the land and making the plowing process easier,” said farmer Prang Sipipat.
Chalermklin has four flocks of ducks that move through different fields in the province, in which farmers typically harvest three rice crops a year. Expect the ‘cleanup’ job on the 67-hectare site in the video to take a little over a week.
