The main pest control tactic employed by the farmers in Tanjong Karang is the application of pesticides. The fanners seem more aware of the need to spray their crops. No fixed spray schedule is being adhered to. Most farmers spray when pest damages are observed. Three to four applications per season are usually used and most farmers spend less than M$100 (US $43) on chemicals in a season. Chemicals are usually bought with cash from chemical sales representatives.

More than half of the farmers rank rats as their most important pest (56.5%) and more than a quarter (27.2%) rank stem-borers as their most important pest. It is felt that farmers tend to mention these two pests, especially stem-borers, when they are being asked, as these are the “traditional” pests and their damages are usually visible.

In the main season 1980/81, 43.5% of the farmers reported serious pest damages in their fields. All these farmers attempted to control the pests using chemicals. However, only 27.5% of them felt that they had succeeded. This clearly suggests the need for better pest control practices to be implemented in Tanjong Karang.