Agricom.id, MUSI RAWAS – One anticipate to protect the plantation from armywarm is by controlling the plant-disturbing organism (PDO) of armyworm. Just like the officers of PDO – pest observer in Sub district of Tugumulyo District of Musi Rawas, Unit Pelaksana Teknis Dinas (UPTD) Perlindungan, Laboratorium Pengamatan Hama Penyakit (LPHP), and the agriculture counselors in Village of Srikaton and the helps from plantation protection brigade unit II, District of Musi Rawas did.

Head of Plantation and Livestock Agency, District of Musi Rawas, Zuhri Syawal said, the attack of armyworm to the paddy of the farmers in Sub district of Tugumulyo has been controlled by the massive spray. The paddy which was attacked by armyworm reached one hectare (ha) within the population reaching 5 to 8 armyworms/clump and the attack intensity reaching, 2 to 3%. The control which had run reached 10 ha.

The farmers, the officers and the Group Tiang Sadar II did the spray. “We were helped by the officers, the counselors, the pest laboratory officers, and the 20 members of the group,” he said in his office, Tuesday (14/4/2020) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

Armyworm is one kind of pest which mostly attack paddy. They usually attack the paddy at night while in the sunny day they would hide in the bottom of the stalk, in the soil, or hidden places.

“They eat the leaves, starting from the edge to the bone of the leaves. This makes the paddy have no leaves at all,” he explained.

He also mentioned that in the paddy which has tassel, the armyworm often cuts the tassel. It even attacks the paddy which is yellowish. The yellowing stalk of the paddy would get rotten and dead. This could fail the harvest.

“The attack to the yellowish paddy or the tassel has come out would be the loss for the farmers,” he said.

In the other spot, Director of Food Plantation Protection, General Directorate of Food Plantation, Ministry of agriculture, Edy Purnawan suggested the officers and the farmers to control the PDO in physical distancing based on what the government suggested. They should be in spirit to control the PDO by hoping to secure the paddy plantation so that the farmers have good luck in the epidemic of Covid-19.

"Just like what General Director of Food Plantation, Suwandi said, the production security should be important part in the production process. The disturbance of PDO and the impact of climate change, Suwandi thought, should be anticipated and controlled since in the early days.

Edy continued, the PDO control, namely the armyworm, should be environmentally done in the first place. It could be done by advantaging the natural enemies, the pesticides, and the good cultivation.

“But if everything is out of limits, we could do the responsive ways,” he said.

It means that Edy emphasized that ministry of agriculture keeps doing the best to increase the food production to guarantee the food needs for the people within the developed, independent, and modern ways. In the other words, ministry of agriculture really encouraged anything to what the regional governments do to maintain the food production nationally.

“This is our same work based on what Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo told to do activity to fulfill the people’s foods and run the principles of circumspection. The food procurement should ensure that it is not postponed,” he said. (A2)