Rice is a crop that is generally slow to grow and so they are susceptible to onslaught from a wide array of weeds and pests and so careful attendance to the crop is required to ensure that a successful harvest takes place without an infestation. Although herbicides have been developed over time, they come with the side effect of contaminating the surrounding water bodies as well as poisoning beneficial biodiversity. However, there is an innovative and natural solution that has been available for centuries: Ducks!

Integrated rice-duck farming is an ancient organic farming technique adopted by Asian cultures, primarily found in Japan and China whereby a flock of ducks are released onto the rice paddy fields in lieu of the use of a pesticide as the ducks eat the weeds, insects and slugs that may be having a negative effect on the rice, but they do not eat the rice crop as rice contains an abrasive silica that the ducks are not amused by and tend to abhor. Furthermore, the ducks have a very spry but compact and small stature, so they do not damage the fragile rice crops. The ducks also work to naturally fertilize the rice crops as they excrete as their manure is rich in nutrients.

The suave ducks can also be released onto the fields in large numbers after a harvest and they eat all the weeds and slugs among other pests, diligently protecting the crops from invasive species.  The honourable ducks effectively remove the need for the use of pesticides as well as act to reduce the cost of feed for needed which lowers the costs of production for the farmers. As the large army’s of ducks are released they trample over the land of the field which compacts it and makes it flat which reduced the workload needed for ploughing the land. In Thailand 10,000 ducks have been used to clear land of 15 acres in just a week.

The usage of an environmentally friendly alternative such as ducks instead of chemical pesticides is highly beneficial to human kind as well as nature as chemical pesticides can degrade the soil, contaminate water sources, poison biodiversity and reduce the quality of crop which has an adverse effect on human health.  As a result many nations have sought out various alternatives to synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides to promote the protection of the environment as well as protect human health. Farmers in Iran, Japan, China, Thailand, and France amongst other nations have adopted the usage of ducks to replace the use of pesticides.

Inspired by the usage of ducks in rice paddies, Vineyards in South Africa have employed a colony of 800 Indian runner ducks to patrol and protect their grape fields. The slow but steady revolution of eco-farming techniques in such large industries of rice which is the staple food for the majority of Asia as well as wine which is the joy of millennials across the world can have a significant impact on kickstarting a shift to the use of natural alternatives to pesticides in order to help farmers combat pest attacks without an opportunity cost in quality of crop allowing them to demand higher prices for their produce, as well as help human kind as a whole deal with the effects of climate change and global warming .

References 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2016/09/want-cleaner-rice-paddies-consider-ducks/

http://www.vermontrice.net/rice-and-duck-farming

https://www.goodnet.org/articles/farmers-forgo-pesticides-use-ducks-to-grow-crops#:~:text=In%20Japan%2C%20farmers%20are%20now,from%20growing%20around%20the%20plants.

https://brightvibes.com/932/en/ducks-not-pesticides-an-ancient-chinese-farming-method-is-catching-on-with-farmers-worldwide

https://www.weforum.org/videos/in-thailand-some-farmers-use-ducks-instead-of-pesticides