The cost effective control of commensal rodent populations, either on a small or larger scale, requires a planned strategy. The casual unplanned implementation of a control programme is unlikely to lead to long term effective control.
Any Integrated Pest Management programme (IPM) comprises a number of practical elements and this is true for the integrated management of rodents. For eventual success however, an essential presumption must be that the person applying the IPM must be suitably trained, competent and ideally qualified to the standards required. In some countries it is a legal requirement that those applying rodenticides are both trained and qualified to national standards. Even if such national standards are not set, it is a label requirement of those rodenticides approved and sold for professional use, that the user is trained and competent.
The effective application of the recommendations in this section will play a fundamental role in the avoidance of the development of resistance to anticoagulant.