Prof. Dr. Dodi Nandika: Behind the fierce Termites, they are Man’s Companions Monday, May 11, 2015

Termites are like uninvited guests. Coming with no signs, no sound, immediately attacking the buildings, which then suddenly become collapsed. It is an illustration of how powerful the termite attack is against the building. So was the remark by Professor of the Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) Prof. Dr. Dodi Nandika, as a guest speaker in the expert dialogue at RRI Bogor, recently.

 

"We estimate this year the economic loss due to termite attack on housing buildings in Indonesia amounts to 8.68 trillion rupiah, while on other buildings 0 trillion rupiah," said Prof. Dodi.

 

Prof Dodi explains, termites often infiltrate into the house or building, and then damage the various wooden parts of the building. In fact, they also often destroy valuable objects in it. There are about 2,000 species of termites that live on this earth, but only a few (less than 100 species) act as a pest.

 

Behind its ferocity, the termite is a man’s best friend. They act as decomposers, breaking down and recycling organic waste, tree stumps, litter, and other organic materials into particles such as inorganic carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. Through this process not only are the organic wastes destroyed, but also the content of nutrients in the soil is enriched. They return the nutrients contained in organic into the soil. They can be called as a soil fertilizer. (Mtd)