DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh on Wednesday rewarded a farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats and launched a month-long campaign nationwide to kill millions more, to protect crops and reduce the need for food imports.
Mokhairul Islam, 40, won a first prize of a TV for killing 83,450 rats in the past nine months in Gazipur district near the South Asian country’s capital, Dhaka. He collected their tails for proof.
“I am so happy to get this honor,” Islam told The Associated Press after receiving a 14-inch color TV and a certificate amid cheers at an official ceremony packed with 500 farmers and officials. “I had no idea that the government gives prizes for this. This is an exciting moment. I will continue to kill them.”
Officials say the impoverished nation imports 3 million tons of food annually, while the Ministry of Agriculture estimates that rodents annually destroy 1.5 million to 2 million tons of food.
