Agroecosystem Engineering As An Alternatif To Controlling Tungro Disease In Tidal Swamp Land At South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract One important strategy to reduce dependence on insecticides and increase food production is through ecological engineering to accommodate natural enemy refuges. Ecological engineering with flowering plants around the main crop can attract natural enemy insects to come, so it can prevent tungro disease when green leafhoppers start to come to the rice fields. The purpose of the study was to determine how agroecosystem engineering affected the preservation of natural enemies of green leafhoppers in tidal swamp areas for the control of tungro diseases. The experiment was conducted using a split plot design with two main plots, namely: 1) Ecological Engineering Agroecosystem (EEA), which is planting flowering plants Zinnia elegans , Cosmos bipinnatus , and Helianthus annuus on rice field embankments and controlling pests with Metharizium anisopliae and sambiloto extract applied four times during the planting period. 2) Conventional Agroecosystem (CA) is based on farmer habits, without refugia and using chemical pesticides. Each main plot was planted with three varieties as sub plots, namely TN1, IR64, and Inpari 9. The natural enemy population in EEA increased significantly by 57.67 individuals between 6 and 8 week after planting compared to CA. According to the diversity (H’) and richness (R) index analysis, the EEA was categorized as moderate, while the CA was categorized as low. The number of green leafhopper populations in EEA shows a stable population, implying the function of natural enemies in controlling green leafhoppers and tungro disease. Similarly, the incidence of tungro disease in the EEA was lower (10.33%) compared to the CA at 19%. Therefore, the ecological engineering agroecosystem by planting refugia plants on tidal swamp lands is needed to increase the natural enemies population.