INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM AS A SUPPESSION EFFORT OF
RESISTANCE PLANTS PESTS
AND CONSOLIDATED VEGETABLES PLANTS AREA
Wahyu Nusa Lubis
PT. Rekadesa, Gedung Puri Matari II lt. 1, Jl. HR. Rasuna Said Kav. H 1-2, Jakarta,
Indonesia, 12920, rekadesa@cbn.net.id, Telp. (62-21) 5252062, Fax. (62-21) 5251389.
Keywords : Integrated Control, Ecosystem, Pest, Pesticide,
Abstract
The low productivity of crops due to declining soil quality, use of synthetic
pesticides that are less wise in pest control, caused by farmers who do not pay attention to
agro ecosystem and application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in cropping areas.
Significantly, the above factors causing pest resistance to synthetic pesticides, pesticide
residues, environmental pollution and the loss of soil nutrient. Therefore it is extremely
wise if the pest control is done by using an integrated suppression control system.
Its implementation include the processing of land manually with the addition of
animal manure and previously plant residues as an effort to improve soil quality and
microorganisms, seeds planting / seedlings originating from a healthy mother plants, the
use of planting areas with intercropping methods, bio pesticides plant and host plants that
enrich the biological diversity, as well corps maintenance and environmentally-based of
harvest handling. Once these phases were completed, the development of pest on each
phase then will be evaluated as an indicator of the success of this method.
This method is expected to be accessed by the vegetable farmers who can learn
directly in the field (learning by doing) after seeing the results and impact of its
application. The output expected from this method is the implementation of crop
cultivation, which in its application adapted to environmental conditions, in order to avoid
drastic changes in the ecosystem so it is not to interfere and decide on the chain of living
beings. The Increase of awareness and understanding of the importance of vegetable
farmers maintain and improve the productivity of the land to support sustainable farming
systems and encourage the increased biological cycles in farming systems involving soil,
plants, animals, flora and fauna in the ecosystem.
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
The decrease of plants' productivity is caused by the degrading of soil's quality,
unwise synthetic pesticide's usage to control Agriculture Pests [AP] due to low awareness
from the farmers regarding the importance of agro-ecosystem and the application of
Integrated Pests Management [IPM] in the plantation area. Significantly, those factors
mentioned above cause AP's resistance against synthetic pesticides, pesticide's residue
and environmental damage as well as the loss of nutrient elements of earth. Therefore, it
is best to use the Integrated Control System to tackle the AP issues.
Integrated Control Systemis a combined approach of biology, culture and physics
in pests control methodology. This approach is used in order to minimize costs, health
threats and environmental risks. According to Oka, the 1996 Comprehensive Pests
Control Concept [Konsep Pengelolaan Hama Terpadu] is a technology of pests control
using the comprehensive approaches with ecology principles and also integrating various
kinds of compatible controling techniques that results on the steady, safe and
economically harmless level of pests population. On top of that, this methodology also
environment-friendly and beneficial for the farmers.
Loss due to plant disease on average reaches 11.8% and due to pests reaches
12.2%, especially happens to vegetables and fruits all over the world. Thus, a system that
applies the principles of pests and disease monitoring is needed in order to control the
population so that the targeted production level can be achieved1.
B. Identified Problems
1. Issues on the damage of earth quality cased by synthetic chemical substances
contained in the pesticides.
2. Issues faced by farmers due to pesticide-relied pest and disease control.
3. How to apply the Integrated Control Systemto the horticultural farmers to reduce
the risks caused by pesticides.
4. How to consolidate the plantation area in order to control the pest population and
result on high quality vegetable products.
C. Objectives
1. The application is expected to give the understanding to the farmers on the
importance of preservation of earth, quality of products and agro-ecosystem
balance.
2. To establish plant cultivation that has adjusted application to the environment
character without causing ecosystem drastic changes that can disrupt and
disconnect the circle of life.
3. To increase on awareness and understanding of the farmers on the importance of
preserving and scaling up the productivity of field in order to support the
continuous farming system.
4. To increase of biological cycle in farming system that involves earth, plants,
livestocks, flora and fauna in the ecosystem.
DISCUSSION
A. Issues Raised from Conventional Farming and Pesticide Usage.
Industrial farming suggests the usage of chemical pesticides in order to control pests
and diseases; to avoid loss risks due to insects, animals and other microorganisms. In the
farming technique, pesticides, insecticides and herbicides have central role to replace
small farming system that is diversified toward the mono-cultural farming industry in a
revolutionary way [Salikin, 2000]. From the narrow or short period perspective, the usage
of pesticides seems to be beneficial. However, the wider impact of chemical pesticides'
residue has been declared as a serious threat to environment and human's health, it causes
the increase of resistance.
Dr. Iman Nyoman Oka (1995), the expert of agricultural pests and diseases from
Farming Department in UGM who has been actively involved in the observation and
1
Identifying and analyzing the status of the pest to manage. The pests attacking agro-ecosystem must be classified as
primary pest, secondary pest, potential pest or immigrant pest. By identifying the status of pests, economy tolerance
level can be defined for each pest.
research on the usage of pesticides in the Integrated Pests Management program in
Indonesia, explained some of the risks of pesticides' usage such as;
1. Pests, such as brown planthopper [wereng coklat], green planthopper [wereng
hijau], diamond backmoth, had built resistance against the formula of pesticides.
2. Brown planthopper also shows the resurgence against various types of pesticide's
formula.
3. Predators and parasites, as well as untargetted creatures that are positively
contributory had become victims and got killed.
4. In the mina rice ecosystem, the risk of death on fish had increased.
5. Water, soil and air pollutions are unavoidable and having a high risk in harming
humans due to the habit of most of the villagers in using water from the river for
bath, wash and toilet needs.
6. Cost of production increased, both for the farmers and government [who provides
subsidiary funds between USD100 to 150 million per year].
With the progress in modern farming, the ecological principles had been neglected
continuously which causing instability in agro-ecosystem. The harms had caused
repetitive pests repopulation in the farming system, saline-contaminated soil, erosion,
water pollution, diseases outbreaks, etc [Van Emden & Dabrowski, 1997]. The worsened
pests issue is closely related to mono-culture expansion which sacrifices variety of plant
species that are included in the important landscape component in the provision of
ecology infrastructure for the protection of plants and useful insects. One of the important
subjects in the homogeneous farming is the decrease of plants' endurance against insects
pests, which especially caused by unwise pesticides usage [Altieri & Nicholls, 2004].
Since 1989, more than a million of farmers and farmers' groups in Indonesia have
been trained in the field school program namely Field School of Comprehensive Pests
Control [Sekolah Lapang Pengendalian Hama Terpadu] including Field School of
Comprehensive Pests Control on High Land Vegetation [Untung 2004]. Starting in 2007
the government raised the allocated budget for Field School of Comprehensive Pests
Control's activities in food crops, plantation and horticulture. But the success of this
Comprehensive Pests Control program has not been correlated with the decrease of
pesticides usage nation-wide [Trisyono, 2008]. In fact, it is still far from success due to
the yearly increasing list of registered pesticides. As it is registered in Indonesia, in 2002
there were 813 registered brands of pesticides, it increases up to 1,082 in 2004 and the
figure reached to beyond 1,500 in 2006 [Directorate of Fertilizer and Pesticides, 2002;
Koperasi Ditjen BSP, 2004]. The increasing number of pesticides was caused by
outrageous registration of generic pesticides, it is very common to find 1 active substance
registered in more than 10 brands. The increase of pesticides' brand names without the
increase number of active substance's variety is not giving any additional value that is
related to the efforts to reduce the risk of usage. In some ways, it actually increases the
risks [Trisyono, 2008].
Soil pollution is a circumstance where man-made chemical substances dissolved in
the soil and changed the natural environment of the earth. This kind of pollution is usually
caused by leakage of liquid waste or of industrial chemical substances or of commercial
facilities; pesticides usage; mixture of the polluted surface water with the sub-surface
water; oil, chemical substances', wastes' carrier vehicle's accidents; water waste from the
rubbish dumpster and industrial waste that is directly dumped illegally to the ground.
A pile of waste came from pesticides waste can produce and release nitrogen and acid
sulfide, the existence of mercury, chrome and arsenic substances can cause disruption on
the bio of the soil, vegetation, on the surface structure of the soil and on the texture of the
soil. Other waste such as metal oxide, both the one dissolved on the surface of the soil or the
one does not, can be hazardous. Non-biodegradable2 inorganic wastes causes soil levels
impenetrable by the roots of vegetation and water. As the result, the soil cannot absorb
water and necessary mineral to keep its fertility. Thus, the number of microorganisms lies
within the soil will also be decreasing, causing vegetation to die shortly.
Liquid waste from the pesticides is active chemical substances, that can be sprayed
into the soil as insecticide, fungicide and herbicide - will damage the water content in the
ground and kills the microorganisms. Coming from this issue, a system that can sustain
the balance of vital natural resources and pests control in the agro-ecosystem, especially
in the area of vegetation cultivation is needed.
B. Approaches
The pests control activities for the vegetation has to be based on the Integrated Control
System that starts at the pre-planting phase to harvest phase, some recommendations even
suggest to have the control all the way until post-harvest time. However, in this discussion
the focus will be more to the supporting of consolidated area where provision of media is
the tool to scaling up the quality and quantity of products. The pests control is
implemented in each growth phase of vegetation, starting from ecosystem analysis,
observation of attack and decision making [whether control and management follow up
steps should be taken or not].
The implementation of this methodology will begin with a plot of land that will expand
the Comprehensive Integrated Pests Control System into a means that is accessible by the
farmers. Several comprehensive integrated control methodology that are focusing on soil
consolidation will be conducted accordingly.3
Each plot will be observed, farmers will be involved in order to get the knowledge and
to know correctly on the developing system. Through learning by doing, participants will
experience direct impacts. Required data consists of soil management, seed preparation,
planting, nursery, harvest and post-harvest. All phases require monitoring of pests
population growth. The illustration of the developed comprehensive integrated pests
control system on the consolidated vegetation area is as follow:
2
Non-biodegradable : chemical decomposition
The concept of Soil Consolidation started during the time of Meiji Dynasty [Japanese Emperor] who conducted
agriculture restoration in 1899, by implementing Agricultural Land Readjustment Law. Which was the idea of
resettlement of the farming lands to be used as the form of support to the farming production campaign, yalso known
as Kukaku Seiri.
3
Picture 1. Component, Function and Strategy to increase the variety of vital natural
resources in the agro-ecosystem (Source: Altieri, 1999).
Problem Solving
The first step that needs to be taken is to identify the cause of the instability or the
agro-ecosystem damages, which is the outrageous usage of pesticides, low soil
microorganisms composition, low soil biological activities, mono-culture, low vital
variety, genetic unification and imbalance humidity.
The second step is to increase management practices in order to optimize the health
and endurance of agro-ecosystem by providing ecological means. The mechanisms
needed in order to increase the endurance of agro-ecosystem can be obtained from scaling
up: variety of plants and genetic's variety, variety of natural enemy's function and
antagonist, organic substances of soil and biological activities, cover crop and poisonous
input dismissal. All treatments will result in the increasing of vital natural resources'
function variety, both under or over the soil, which has important role in recovering the
production capacity system [Altieri & Nicholls, 1999].
In relations with endurance and preserving the soil consolidation that supports the
availability of media as the effort to scale up the quality and quantity of vegetation
products, the methodology that can be explored for pests control and management
strategy at the vegetation area are:
a. Intercropping. Growth of 2 or more vegetations at the same time in one plot.
b. Plant rotation. As the intercropping pattern, rotation is the growth of 2 or more
vegetations in-time rotation at the same plot. This methodology also has benefits.
c. Agro forestry. This is an intercropping pattern between annual plants like forest
plants, with seasonal plants such as food crops or medicinal plants.
d. Silvi pasture. This is combination of forest plants or wooden plants and livestock's
green feed. This way, conservation is more protected and the needs for livestock's
feed is also fulfilled without having to disrupt the environment.
e. Natural fertilizer. The intercropping between leguminose with cultivated plants
will result on mutual benefits.
f. Land conservation. The Minimum Land Management System [MLMS] or No
Land Management [NLM] are the practical conservation ways to preserve the
fertility of soil, to avoid erosion as well as nutrient's wash.
g. Biological control. This methodology is to use the natural enemies, parasites and
predators as pests control.
CONCLUSIONS
A. The usage of exceeding pesticides causes various impacts to the condition of
plantation area and vital natural resources.
B. Low productivity of plants caused by degrading soil quality, unwise synthetic
pesticides usage in the Agricultural Pests [AP] by the farmers who have no
awareness on the importance of concerns on agro-ecosystem and the
implementation of Integrated Pests Management [IPM] in their plantation.
C. The activity of pests control on vegetation is based on the Comprehensive
Integrated Control starts from the pre-planting phase until harvest time, it is even
recommended to have the control until post-harvest time.
D. Main issues in the implementation is usually because the participants of pests
control who are involved in each phase still have no understanding regarding the
developing pattern and still very much rely on conventional farming and
pesticides usage.
E. The first step that needs to be taken is to identify the cause of the instability or the
agro-ecosystem damages, which is the outrageous usage of pesticides, low soil
microorganisms composition, low soil biological activities, mono-culture, low
vital variety, genetic unification and imbalance humidity. The second step is to
increase management practices in order to optimize the health and endurance of
agro-ecosystem by providing ecological means.
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