Local farmers told to use natural pesticides

Local farmers told to use natural pesticides

By Erry Prabandari

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The use of chemical pesticides in Indonesian
agriculture seems unavoidable as farmers, particularly those
living in remote areas, find them cheaper and easier to obtain.

But this environmentally unfriendly trend has taken a
significant twist since the country was assailed by its
multidimensional crisis, which has caused the rupiah to plunge in
value against the U.S. dollar.

The crisis, which started in mid-1997, has resulted in
escalating prices for various goods, including chemical
pesticides. Farmers, who previously had never thought of making
pesticides on their own, have now started to seriously consider
this option as the prices of chemical pesticides are currently up
to four times their original prices.

"Formerly, chemical pesticides were cheaper and easier to
obtain and I liked to use them since I found them more
practical," explained Ardani, a farmer in Logandeng, Gunungkidul.

Pesticide expert Edhi Martono of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
University has wasted no time in promoting biological pesticides,
the result of a research project he conducted with some
agricultural experts from the university.

Ironically, he discovered that the crisis has opened a window
of opportunity for the development of sustainable agriculture and
cultivation systems in the country as many confused farmers have
tried to seek alternative pesticides to replace the now
unaffordable chemical ones.

"When we offered them biological pesticide, they seem excited
and were willing to give it a try," said Edhi.

"Then, I start campaigning for biological pesticide, which is
an environmentally friendly product. The use of natural pesticide
like this is less harmful than the use of chemical pesticides.
Besides, farmers can easily produce it on their own and it's
cheap."

In producing the biological pesticide, he uses various plants,
such as papaya (Carica papaya), nimba (Azedarachta indica),
mindi (Melia azedarach), the castor oil plant (Riccinus
communis), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), garlic (Allium sativum),
chilli (Capsicum frutescens) and kecubung (Datura stramonium).

Mindi is a big tree with tiny leafs. In Japan, mindi wood is
used to make boxes and high quality furniture, while the Javanese
uses its leafs as a homeopathic method of curing diseases such as
diabetes. Kecubung is a poisonous plant with large trumpet-shaped
flowers.

A small amount of detergent and gasoline may be added to make
the botanical pesticide more effective in killing insects and
bugs, he said. A farmer can apply the biological pesticide just
like chemical ones, using a sprayer.

"I used biological pesticide produced from nimba seeds to kill
harmful insects, nematodes and fungi in my cabbage field," said
Trimo, a farmer living in Klaten, Central Java.

In making pesticide from nimba seeds, he blends 500 grams of
seeds in 400 liters of water. This pesticide is sufficient to
spray up to 4,000 square meters of vegetable fields.

In order to get rid off grasshoppers, Trimo uses pesticides
made from the mindi plant. To produce this pesticide, he mixes
0.25 kg of powdered mindi seed with five to seven liters of water
and then adds two spoonfull's of detergent and a spoonful of
gasoline.

Biological pesticide produced from the tobacco plant is
extremely effective in killing bugs and harmful organisms in
paddy fields. For this kind of pesticide, the farmer needs about
150 to 300 kg of tobacco stalks and then mixes them with
limestone powder and water to spray one hectare of rice fields.

For Edhi, the crisis is a blessing in disguise allowing him to
promote the use of biological pesticides. Two years after the
crisis started, such pesticides have aroused great interest among
farmers.

"I realize that not all Indonesian farmers are aware of the
effectiveness of biological pesticides yet. But, it does not
matter. We will need to undertake a long campaign to popularize
it and we don't expect to get quick results in the short-term,"
Edhi said realistically

Based on his observations, he found that farmers had
previously been spraying more chemical pesticides than they
needed to.

"They usually raise the dosage of chemical pesticides in order
to guarantee a good harvest. They never think of their side-
effects and don't know how hazardous these products are," Edhi
said.

The use of biological pesticide is safer and healthier. For
instance, it is also effective in killing the bugs and insects
that threaten watermelon crops. And the pesticide will make
consumers happy as it leave no pesticide residue in the
watermelons.