This farmer trains his ducks to do this work. It takes two months of training before they are ready. He hires out their service to rice farmers
The ducks enter rice field three times per rice growing cycle. They eat insects that are destroying the rice and then fertilize the crop with their manure. Back at the farm they lay 500-700 eggs/day in rainy season and 2000-2500 eggs/day the rest of the year. Quite a feat of organic, sustainable method combining farming and animal husbandry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx3cfoPjyR4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNR_3GeUoqI *Ducks replace paddy-field pesticides * Japanese farmers rediscover ancient rice-growing technique that boosts production without the need for chemicals Tuesday 24 January 2012 On his six-hectare farm in the village of Keisen, on Japan's Kyushu island <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyushu>, Takao Furuno, 61, grows rice and wheat without chemicals. He rediscovered an ancient rice-growing practice involving the use of ducks. Dozens of these birds, raised on the farm, patrol the paddy fields. They feed on insects and weeds, without touching the plants. Their wading oxygenates the water and stirs up the soil. Their droppings are a natural fertiliser. Furuno has cut production costs and boosted output by about a third compared with his neighbours, who use chemical fertilisers. He sells the ducks too. Some 10,000 Japanese farmers have purchased The Power of Duck <http://www.amazon.com/Power-Duck-Takao-Furuno/dp/0908228120> [sic], the book he published in 2000. In 2011 the technique was successfully tried out in Camargue, southern France. The trend in rice cultivation in Japan <https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan>, which provides a livelihood for 1.4 million families, is, however, towards larger farms and more intensive production. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jan/24/japan- farming-technique-duck-pesticide Attachments area Preview YouTube video Ducks Trained to Manage Rice Paddies in Thailand Ducks Trained to Manage Rice Paddies in Thailand <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx3cfoPjyR4>Preview YouTube video Duck Rice Farming in Japan Duck Rice Farming in Japan <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNR_3GeUoqI>
