and Integrated Pest Management - part - usaid

24 PES'ICIDE MANAGIAENT AND IPM INSOUTtIEAST ASIA
PRESEINT STATUS OF PEST MANAGEMENT IN ESTATE
CROPS
In Indonesia, the estate crop grower is responsible for the pest management
of his crop. The Government only provides advice, training, and extension to
the grower for effective, safe, and economic pest management methods. In
certain situations the government may provide pesticides at subsidized prices or
give free pesticides in extiene circumstances such as insect pest outbreaks or
disease epidenics.
As a result of government assistance through training and extension, and
together with their personal experiences, farmers have implemented some
mclhods of pest management by themselves. These methods range from
traditional, such as mcchanical and cultural methods, to biological and chemical
controls. Previously, these crop protection measures were satisfactory, but with
the expanded development of estate crops, more complex pest problems arose,
resulting in more extensive use of chemical pesticides, usually replacing
traditional methods and biological control.
At present no evidence exists for the development of resistance by estate
crop pests to chemicals. However. considering the experience in other countries
and also for efficient and economical operation of estate crop production, pest
management in estate crops is now being directed towards implementation of
IPM. Presently some components of 1PM are available in Indonesia, and can be
utilized for initiating IPM pilot projects and, eventually, for general
recommendations in the management of a number of pests on several estate
crops. These componenLs include biological control, which has been practiced in
Indonesia for about four decades, cultural and mechanical controls, and regulatory
measures.
In the case of coconut, chemical pesticides are not recommended for the
control of Oryctes rhinocerosL. and Brontispa longissima. Instead, a
combination of biological, cultural, and mechanical control practices are used.
Chemicals, however, could be utilized either alone or in combination with
biological, cultural, and mechanical controls for the control of Sexava spp.
depending upon its population density. In the latter case continuous pest
surveillance and monitoring are conducted.
Chemicals are primarily employed for cotton pest management because of
insufficient information about other methods. However, we do have limited
application of other methods such as hand-picking of Spodoptera eggs, early
planting to prevent llyponeces infestation, delaying first pesticide application to
allow biological control agents to operate, and shortening the planting periods of
cotton to prevent the continuous supply of food in the field for the pests.
Most of the present pest control practices on estate crops employ the
unilateral approach. This is usually chemical control, which is applied based on
different criteria, such as high pest population densities with Ilidari irava on
coconut, the degree of pest damage with cocoa mirid llelopeltis spp., or through
a calendar system as employed on the pepper lace bug Diconocorishewitti, and
the large pepper berry bug Dasynus piperis.