Controlling plant pests is an inseparable
part of farming. Plant pests themselves are the enemy of farmers because they
are the cause of the decline in their crop yields.
Because of this, farmers have made many efforts to overcome the problem of this plant pest attack.
Types of plant pests
There are actually many types of plant pests, depending on the plant itself. However, the most prominent pests that become complaints from farmers are 8 types, namely
1. Rat (Rattus argentiventer Rob & Kloss)
Rat pests are known to attack rice plants, but corn is also often attacked by rats. How to attack rat pests, by biting rice stalks and/or eating corn fruit.
2. leafhoppers
Leafhoppers are insects that attack plants by sucking plant fluids so that gradually the plants become sluggish and dry out.
3. Walang sangit (Leptocorisa oratorius Fabricius)
This third type of pest has a way of attacking plants by sucking plant fluids.
4. Caterpillar
Caterpillar pest attacks usually like to attack the leaves of plants by eating the leaves.
5. Mites
It is a type of small pest (less than 1 mm), similar to a spider, and lives on the lower leaves. The way to attack it is by sucking the leaf fluid.
6. Seed flies (Atherigona exigua, A. Oryzae)
This pest is often found attacking almost all types of bean seeds (soybeans, green beans, red beans, etc.) when they are just growing. So when the seeds have just 2 leaves, that's the stage when the seed flies start to attack by making punctures in the leaves and then inserting their eggs.
7. Ground dog (Gryllotalpa hirsute)
This seventh plant pest attacks plants in all growth phases
8. Ureth (Leucopholis rorida)
The physical form of this plant pest is large, fat, white, the body is translucent, the head is brown. This pest attacks the roots of young plants by eating the roots.
Now, steps to control plant pests can be done in two ways, namely organically and chemically. For ways to control plant pests organically or naturally, below we will review the things you can do.
Plant Pest Control Methods
There are many things you can do to control plant pests naturally, starting from prevention, manually cleaning pests if they have already been attacked to installing pest traps.
Natural methods of controlling plant pests are actually beneficial for farmers because they can reduce plant maintenance costs. Here are several natural methods of controlling plant pests, which you can choose according to your needs
1. Routinely spray natural pesticides
Preventing plants from being attacked by pests can be done when the plants are moved. Spray natural pesticides regularly by using soaked onion skins dissolved in water, the ratio is 1:10.
Even though you cannot immediately see the results from spraying organic pesticides like chemical pesticides, natural pesticides can actually be relied on as long as they are sprayed regularly, for example once a week, to prevent pests from landing.
Apart from soaking garlic/shallots, effective organic pesticides can also be made from neem leaves, papaya leaves, a mixture of dish soap and tobacco and even soursop leaves.
Make sure to dilute the natural pesticide first with water so that the concentration does not damage the plants. The ideal time to spray natural pesticides is in the morning at 9 o'clock, when the pores of the leaves start to open (read respiration/breathing)
2. Planting Refugia
When choosing to plant plants using natural methods, we should be in harmony with nature. One of them is about pests on plants because actually pests are also God's creatures. For this reason, the choice fell on pest control by using refugia plants.
Refugia plants are plants that can interfere with the breathing and/or vision sensors of pests and attract natural predators. You can plant refugia plants around the main plants as a step to divert the attention of plant pests.
Examples of recommended refugia plants are refugia plants from flower plants and herbal plants. However, in general, farmers can use it as a refugia plant, namely kenikir plants, paper flowers, sunflowers and so on.
Of course, each flower has a different color, so the number of plant pests you want to eradicate is different. The red color is generally preferred by pest predators such as ladybugs, purple/blue for pollinators such as bees and dragonflies and yellow flowers to trick pests.
You can also use herbal plants to ward off pests such as mint, rosemary, sage, oregano, chives, basil, chives and so on. Apart from being used as refugia plants, herbal plants and flower plants can be used as cooking spices and home decorations.
The most effective placement of refugia plants is on the outside or around the main plant. This placement is to protect the plant from pests that want to damage and infect the main plant.
3. Take advantage of pests' natural enemies
Utilizing natural enemies of pests is highly recommended because you don't need to look for pests one by one. Simply release predators around the plants and they will look for the pests to eat.
The recommended predators depend on the pest you are dealing with. For mice, you can use snakes or owls. In fact, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, Owls can reduce the number of rat populations by up to 5%.
Other pests such as mealybugs can take advantage of the presence of ladybugs. Now that many people are aware of the benefits of organic farming, there are shops selling ladybugs to be released into gardens. Ladybugs themselves will eat existing pests and save the harvest.
4. Manual pest control
Apart from using natural pesticides, refugia plants and natural enemies of pests, pest control is also done manually. Manual plant pest control activities can be carried out if the pest attack is still an early sign, not yet severe.
The method is to spray water at a certain pressure so that the pests are released from the plant. Hand cleaning is also recommended for plants that are quite fragile. This is to avoid broken and injured plants.
If the plant is too bad, you are advised to get rid of the plant so that it does not spread to other plants. Also try to throw away plants that are attacked by pests in a special place.
Do not mix these plants in healthy compost to avoid re-infection to subsequent plants
5. Use Make a yellow trap
The enemy of organic farming in the fruit and vegetable sector is the fruit fly pest. This pest is quite troublesome for farmers because it damages their crops. Almost all fruit infected with fruit flies will not survive until harvest and tend to rot from the inside.
The way to control this is to divert pests and insects from the fruit by making traps. A common trap is to make a yellow trap. The color yellow is used in this trap because insects are always attracted to the color yellow.
Yellow traps themselves can be purchased at agricultural shops. You can also make your own by using an old bottle painted yellow and applying mouse glue. Installation can be done in a corner of the garden or rice field.
6. Apply coffee grounds around the plants
Ants such as weaver ants, spiny ants or fire ants are natural enemies of mealybugs. Unfortunately, some types of ants actually become pests, such as black ants which like to lay eggs underground and disrupt plant growth.
Leftover coffee grounds from brewing can also be used to repel ants on plants. The method is also quite easy, just spread it around the plants. Using coffee grounds is also as effective as refugia plants.
Unfortunately coffee grounds have limited effectiveness so you can add more periodically to get maximum results. Coffee grounds can repel ants that want to creep on your plants.
7. Carry out crop rotation
Crop rotation is an activity to replace plants periodically. This replacement can be done three to four times a year and has been known since ancient times. It is recommended for crop rotation to choose plants from different families.
Replacing one plant family with another will effectively stop the spread of attacking pests and diseases. For example, you can stop the disease and pest anthracnose in chili plants by replacing them with corn plants.
If the crop rotation remains in the same family as eggplant and tomatoes, it is very likely that diseases and pests will still attack.
8. Plant superior varieties
In fact, the first step in controlling plant pests is planting superior plant varieties that have been tested. Now there has been a lot of research to produce seeds that are superior and resistant to pests.
Researchers generally cross-breed plant types that are considered to have advantages and then sell the results on the market.
However, you have to be careful not to get superior seeds whose genes have been modified/GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). It is feared that GMO seeds will affect the health of those who consume them. Fortunately, the Indonesian government has not officially allowed the entry of GMO seeds into the country.
Those are 8 natural ways to control plant pests, please choose what kind of plant pest control method you want to use.
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