FMIPA USU Lecturers Apply Eucalyptus Leaf Biopesticide for Citrus Plants
FMIPA USU Lecturers Apply Eucalyptus Leaf Biopesticide for Citrus Plants
Published by
David Kevin Handel Hutabarat
Published at
Friday, 03 September 2021
Citrus plants, like other fruit crops, often face the threat of destructive pests. For this reason, the Community Service Team of USU Lecturers, together with farmers, tried to control fruit fly pests that attack Sweet Orange (Citrus X sinensis) plants through integrated pest control methods with environmentally friendly principles using biopesticides from extracted Eucalyptus oil. After that, a special analysis was conducted on the mortality rate of fruit flies (Bactrocera sp) to determine the optimal dose of biopesticide use.
USU Public Relation - This Community Service activity was initiated by lecturers of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara, led by Dr. Muhammad Taufik, S.Si., M.Si., located in Dolat Rakyat Village, Ujung Sampun District, Karo Regency. The team consisted of Dr. Cut Fatimah Zuhra, Boby Cahyady, S.Si., M.Si., and Dr. Rini Hardiyanti, S.T.P. while providing counseling and materials to the Bukit Rumah Sendi Farmer Group.
“We saw that many farmers failed to harvest in the past year due to fruit fly pests attacking citrus plants. They need alternative environmentally friendly pesticides that can help increase citrus production optimally,” said Dr. Muhammad Taufik.
Biopesticides are pesticides made and taken from natural materials. They are an alternative to synthetic or chemical pesticides, which can have toxic side effects on the environment and living things and can cause resistance to pests.
“Vegetable pesticides made from Eucalyptus are included in environmentally friendly pesticides because they positively impact plants in a certain period of time and are easy to degrade, residues disappear quickly, do not pollute the environment, and are safe for living things. The Community Service Team utilizes the leaves of Eucalyptus grandis planted by the community to take the stems as raw material for pulp making. Still, the leaves have not been maximally utilized. This plant is one of the plants cultivated in North Sumatra after oil palm,” said the Team Leader.
Education through this community service was held in early September 2021, attended by members of the Bukit Rumah Sendi Farmer Group, by implementing Health protocols. Education is expected to contribute to the community by harvesting oranges optimally so that in the future, there will be no more incidents of crop failure that are detrimental to farmers.
“Alhamdulillah, through this activity, we are greatly helped by various information on biopesticides against plant pests, especially sweet oranges. In the future, we hope that the Universitas Sumatera Utara will continue to contribute to farmers like us, especially in cultivating land and plants, so that future harvests can be maximized,” said Leo Napolisa Ginting, Head of the Bukit Rumah Sendi Farmer Group. (RJ)
