IPB University’s Plant Doctor Series Promotes Preemptive Pest Management in Preparation for the Dry Season
The Plant Protection Student Association (Himasita), in collaboration with the Division of Farmer and Fisherman Development at IPB University’s Institute for Agromaritime Development and Innopreneurship Acceleration (LPA2I), hosted the Plant Doctor Series #4 webinar.
This time, the webinar titled “Preemptive Management of Rice Pests and Diseases to Prepare for the Upcoming Season” was attended by lecturers, researchers, agricultural extension workers, practitioners, farmers, students, and various stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
In his opening remarks, Dr Handian Purwawangsa, Chief of LPA2I at IPB University, highlighted the challenges facing the agricultural sector due to climate change and increasingly unpredictable seasonal patterns. According to him, these conditions demand a shift in the approach to plant pest and disease management from the current reactive approach to one that is more proactive and data driven.
Meanwhile, Dr Giyanto, Chairman of the Department of Plant Protection at IPB University, added that the concept of preemptive management of plant pests and diseases needs to be continuously promoted so that farmers can anticipate the risk of pest and disease outbreaks before they occur in the field.
The first speaker, Prof Hermanu Triwidodo, a professor in the Department of Plant Protection at IPB University, explained that longer, hotter, and drier dry seasons have the potential to increase the risk of outbreaks of various major rice pests, such as the rice stem borer, the brown planthopper, rats, and migratory locusts. According to him, rising temperatures accelerate pest population growth, while the presence of natural enemies tends to decline.
“Effective plant pest and disease management does not begin when pests appear, but long before that, through prevention, containment, and suppression strategies designed based on experience, data, and conditions from previous growing seasons,” he said.
Prof Hermanu also emphasized that farmers are the key actors in plant pest and disease management. Therefore, managing healthy seedbeds, utilizing biological agents, conserving natural enemies, and applying ecological engineering are crucial steps to prevent pest outbreaks in the next growing season.
In the next session, Dr Hagia Sophia Khairani, a lecturer in the Department of Plant Protection at IPB University, explained that climate change not only affects plants but also accelerates the adaptation process of disease causing pathogens. This situation has caused plant diseases, including rice blast, to exhibit different characteristics compared to several decades ago.
“Pathogens have the ability to adapt more quickly than plants. Therefore, disease management strategies must be continuously updated and cannot simply rely on the same approach year after year,” she emphasized.
She explained that repeated use of fungicides with the same active ingredient can accelerate the development of pathogen resistance. In addition, farmers also need to be vigilant about the emergence of new diseases, such as leaf spot caused by Nigrospora spp., whose symptoms often resemble those of blast but require a different control approach.
Therefore, she stressed, field sanitation, selection of suitable varieties, monitoring of environmental conditions, and the use of modern technology are essential components of a more effective disease management strategy.
Through this webinar, IPB University hopes that more farmers, extension workers, students, and agricultural practitioners will understand the importance of preemptive management of plant pests and diseases. In this way, Indonesia’s agricultural sector can be better prepared to face the challenges of climate change while maintaining the productivity and sustainability of national food production. (*/Rz) (IAAS/FHD)
