Sustainable Agriculture and Zero Pesticides: Solar Light Trap in Controlling Brown Planthoppers in Rice Fields

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels

Rice is the main food source in Indonesia. 92% of Indonesians consume rice for their daily consumption. Rice farming is the main activity in meeting Indonesia’s current food security. Although the need for rice can be met, in its care, rice cannot be separated from the problem of pests and diseases that reduce the production of rice plants. One of the important pests that is a major issue in rice farming activities is the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens). The brown planthopper was once a pest explosion in Indonesia which lasted from year to year and experienced a peak of attack in 2010 and 2011 reaching 137,768 ha and 218,060 ha, respectively. Vietnam also experienced a similar problem in 2006 and resulted in a loss of 400,000 tons of rice yields.

Two brown planthopper insects on a rice plant. The bottom one is the long-winged version that will migrate on to a new rice plant. The top is a short-winged version that won’t leave. Photo courtesy of Xinda Lin, Jiliang University.

This problem finally forced farmers in Indonesia to be active in using pesticides and insecticides to control insect pest populations. In practice, the use of pesticides and insecticides among farmers often ignores the terms of use. As a result, the quality of the soil becomes reduced, the potential for pest resistance and resurgence. Poor soil quality will have an impact on financing the restoration of soil health such as fertilization and potential resistance and resurgence will increase the worst possibility of low yields or crop failure of an agricultural commodity.

There are many alternatives to synthetic pesticides in controlling brown planthoppers, but they are often lower in mortality and decompose faster than using synthetic pesticides. This is because there are many factors, such as quality factors and inappropriate methods. An example is the control of brown planthoppers using pathogens or bioagents, the resulting effectiveness is proven to be able to control the brown planthopper insect population, but in an effort to decompose, pathogenic bioinsecticides decompose much faster than general pesticides, so that more repeated applications are needed than using synthetic pesticides.

Light Trap

In addition to using chemicals and organics in controlling brown planthoppers, there are other methods that use a physical-mechanical approach. Mechanical physical control is control that uses a physical management approach to the agricultural area or uses equipment that uses an integrated system in its implementation. In controlling the brown planthopper pest, the commonly known physical-mechanical control technique is to use the light trap technique.

Control by using a light trap is a control that utilizes light rays at night which aims to attract nocturnal insects and insects that like light. Brown planthoppers are insects that like light from light traps, the most effective light color in attracting brown planthoppers is white.

But unfortunately the control using light traps is less attractive to farmers, this is because the use of light traps requires a lot of energy to produce strong light of about 100 watts with endurance from 18.00–06.00 or for 12 hours. In addition, the use of light traps that are powered by cable electric current is also considered inefficient because it requires space for installing electric current cables.

Figure 1. A) Conventional light traps; B) Solar energy light trap

Based on the above problems, there are light trap innovations that are powered by solar energy or sunlight. Solar light traps have an efficient frame because they don’t require cables to carry electricity. The solar light trap is designed to make it easy to use in areas where cables and electricity are hard to reach. The solar light trap is designed to actively charge energy during the day to activate the light at night.

Solar Light Trap Monitoring Strategy

The use of light traps with solar energy is already known in several places, but in its use, farmers often do not know strategic studies or appropriate guidelines for their use, so a strategy is needed to use light traps as an appropriate control tool.

Figure 2. Schematic of Solar Light Trap Monitoring

Solar light traps are applied to agricultural land as monitoring as well as direct control. The use of solar light traps as a monitoring method is a method to determine the situation of pests in rice plantations. The use of light traps as a monitoring tool can cover an area of ​​100–250 hectares. Light traps are used on one side of the land area, which is 5 meters from the land.

Coverage area of ​​up to 250 Ha is an ideal area for lamps with a power of 100 watts. In addition, the use of solar light traps must be in conditions of dark rice fields or minimal lighting so that the light from the solar light trap does not mix with other light. Then the placement of a solar light trap 5 meters from the side of the rice field is an effort to bring brown planthoppers out of the rice field area.

Monitoring using a solar light trap can be done before planting or when there are plants. As for the time before planting, or vacant land, the thing to note is the peak of the immigrant planthopper. If the arrival of immigrant insects does not overlap between generations, it is necessary to carry out peak catching, then wait 15 days to start planting. Meanwhile, if immigrant brown planthoppers overlap between generations, two peak catching times will be carried out before planting. The start time for planting is 15 days after the second peak of fishing. As for when the rice fields have been planted, the thing to note is the number of brown planthoppers caught per night. If less than 50 brown planthoppers per night then the right step is to immediately know the number of populations per clump. If there are 50 or more brown leafhoppers per night, control immediately.

Solar Light Trap Control Strategy

The use of light traps for direct control according to Baehaki (2011) can use more than one light trap.

Figure 3. Schematic Plan of Solar Light Trap Control

So that the use of light traps is carried out far from light, it is better to use solar light traps separated at a distance of about 6–11 Ha. The reason is because if the solar light traps are installed too close together, it will likely bias the light. Biased light will make the brown planthopper not focus on gathering on the light trap, but can also be scattered among the biased light. The use of light traps as a control strategy was recommended by Baehaki (2011) who stated in his research that light traps installed 150–250 cm from the ground using 100 watts of power managed to catch 400,000 insects, most of which were brown planthoppers.

Conclusion

The problem of brown planthoppers in rice cultivation is one of the most important pest issues. Most farmers still use synthetic pesticides in the implementation of brown planthopper control. The strategy for monitoring and controlling solar light traps is a proposal made in helping farmers to reduce and be free to use pesticides. Solar light traps are tools that are considered effective in monitoring and controlling, leaving no residue and potentially sustainable. The use of solar light traps is still considered difficult because the tools needed are considered expensive, when in fact the application of solar light traps is a long-term strategy that only requires initial costs in its procurement. To overcome this problem, mutual cooperation by farmers and assistance from government agricultural institutions is needed in order to create sustainable rice fields and pesticide-free rice products.

Reference

Baehaki, S.E. 2011. “Fundamental Strategy for Control of Brown Stem Leafhopper Pests in Safeguarding.” Agricultural Innovation Development 4 (1):15–16. http://203.190.36.42/publikasi/ip041115.pdf

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