How to raise rats and other livestock: lessons from a north-eastern school

PHOTOS: The Nation

A school in Surin province, north-east Thailand, is teaching students how to make a living raising small livestock such as wild rats and voles.

Local farmers will often pay up to 1,000 baht for breeding rodents, with fully-grown ones sold for meat at 120 baht a kilo. Rodent meat remains a traditional food source in some parts of rural Thailand.

With rodents only requiring a small enclosure, raising them is easier compared to most other livestock. 12th grade student Charuvith Charoensup explains that the rodents eat grass, rice, maize and other vegetables.

Thakongwithaya school in Sangkha district also provides courses in raising cattle, goats and fish, all under the supervision of appropriately-named principal Surapong Rattanakot.

SOURCE: The Nation