One of them is in Hutanamale Village, Puncak Sorik Marapi Regency, Mandailing Natal Regency, which is one of the centers that develops various horticultural crops, such as vegetables, chilies, tomatoes, celery, shallots, potatoes, oranges, avocados, coffee and ruber.

This was stated by the Coordinator of the Research-Based Service Team, Ameilia Zuliyanti Siregar, M.Sc, PhD during the discussion. The USU LPPM Service Team held training and discussions on “Integrated Pest and Disease Control and Pest and Disease Control of Horticultural Plants” in Hutanamale Village, Puncak Sorik Merapi Madina, Saturday (8/21) and Sunday (8/22).

He said, Madina red chili is a local specific plant, a vegetable that is very familiar to the community. Red chilies are cultivated and consumed because these vegetables contain sources of vitamin (A, B and C), minerals, carbohydrates, protein, fiber and fats which are very useful for health.

Like several other types of vegetables, red chilies are perishable, have a seasonal production pattern and cannot be stored for long because they can rot and become watery. This perishable nature can be caused by the soft stems and the high water content, making them easily penetrated by plant pests/diseases.

He said the caterpillar pests of Spodoptera litura, aphis sp, plutella xylostella, liriomyza sp, thrips palmi, and plutellidae are pests in horticultural crops.

“If no control measures are taken, the damage to the pest vegetable crops can increase and crop yields can decrease both in quantity and quality,” he explained.

According to him, physical control by means of crop rotation, removal, use color traps, set pheromones. While biological control by using predators and parasitoids, as well as chemically using vegetable pesticides is the right way to use the concept of preserving the environment.

On the occasion, other speakers, namely Dr. Ir. Yunilas, MP, brought a topic of making organic fertilizer from vegetables waste as well as trainers on the use of coffee hullers, Putri Candra Ayu, STP, M.Si.

Head of USU LPPM, Prof. Dr. Tulus, M.Si., said that this community service activity aims to design an effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM), train farmers to use simple coffee processing tools and the formation of agro-tourism based on agricultural land.

The location of horticultural, citrus, mango, avocado and coffee plantations in Hutanamale Village is on the slopes of Moun Sorik Merapi, fertile land to support agrivultural productivity.

“The green stretch of rice fields combing the hot springs of Sibanggor, Puncak Sorik Merapi, Mandailing Natal are used by the community as public baths that need to be developed as eco-friendly ecotourism,” he said.

He hopes that agro-tourism by picking vegetables and fruits as well as the process of looking at nature from the peak of Sorik Merapi will be realized in the future.

When visiting the location, the Head of Madina Tourism, M. Yasir Lubis, SP said that the district government was also trying to provide assistance with horticultural seeds, namely chili, potato, tomato and mustard seeds as well as a set of coffee hullers, which were expected to be the initial stimulus for the Happy Farmers Group (Poktan).

“The synergy of this service will anchor USU’s heart in the community,” he said.

He further conveyed, the limited knowledge of farmers in controlling horticultural plant pests, land use that is not optimal and limited coffee processing equipment in Hutanamale Village, Puncak Sorik Merapi, Madina.

Furthermore, the handover of the coffee huller was symbolically handed over by the head of the USU LPPM research-based service team to the Head of Puncak Sorik Merapi Village, Hasibuan.

“It is hoped that the initiation and synergy of the use of agricultural land as agro-tourism between farmers, USU academics, the Madina Government and the community in Hutanamale Village, Puncak Sorik Merapi, Madina will be realized in the future,” he said. (©ULC)