Why Do Healthy Plants Stay Attacked by Pests and Diseases? Let's peek at the solution!

Efforts to keep plants healthy and minimal attacks by pests and diseases are always carried out by cultivators. Various ways are often sought to maximize crop production. The productivity of a plant can be measured by the quantity and quality of the plant. Quantity refers to the number of plants produced while quality is the appearance of the plants harvested. The quantity and quality of good plants will determine the selling price which is quite promising so that the profits achieved can also be maximized. In order to achieve a good quantity and quality of plants, a special skill is needed in maintaining plants.

We can get special skills in maintaining plants through agricultural books and direct experience from farmers. Both can complement and enrich the scientific treasures of agriculture. Basic knowledge and practice are a must as a support for the success of plant cultivation in agriculture. Buddy may have come across a theory in agriculture that is sometimes still difficult to put into practice. 

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Thus, both the knowledge gained through reading materials and direct experience from the farmers, you can learn and choose which method is the best. The best way to cultivate plants, of course, must consider their effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness is the management of time in achieving production goals, while efficiency is the use of minimal resources to increase crop yields.¹ This is often not owned by traditional farmers who are in their old age and find it difficult to accept new ways of farming. Therefore, it is our duty as youths to be able to become a driving force in today's agricultural era.

In this article, we will invite Star Farm friends to learn together. We will learn about pest and disease control solutions, as a provision to become a driving force for the agricultural sector in the future. What are the pest and disease control solutions in question? Come on, let's see together!

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1. Knowing the Characteristics of Pests and Diseases of Cultivated Plants

Pests and diseases in a plant are very diverse. There are those that attack certain plants, there are also pests and diseases that attack several types of plants. In addition, pests and diseases also have different characteristics, especially with regard to their attack on a plant. There are pests that borer the fruit (damage only to the fruit). There are also leaf-eating pests (limited damage to leaves consumed by pests). Likewise with diseases, there are diseases that infect all parts of the plant. There are also those that only infect certain parts. These characteristics must be known in order to be able to take precautions from the start so that pests and diseases can be controlled. 

Star Farm friends, let's take one example, namely fruit flies. Fruit flies attack several types of plants such as papaya and chili. From the name alone "fruit fly", it is definitely the part of the fruit that it attacks. So, if my friend wanted to grow crops with intercropping system ( Multiple cropping ), you should not do intercropping papaya and chili. This means the same as providing food for fruit flies throughout the season from two sources, namely papaya and chili.

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2. Looking for Information on Vegetable Pesticides 

Organic materials that generally come from plants and are used to control pests and plant diseases, we refer to as vegetable pesticides. Vegetable pesticides are environmentally friendly pesticides because they come from natural ingredients that are easily biodegradable and do not cause resistance or increase pest immunity after use. In addition, vegetable pesticides are also easy to obtain because we use wild plants from around, for example babadotan, as well as kitchen ingredients such as garlic we can use as vegetable pesticides. These natural materials can be repellant (repellent) the presence of pests and diseases and inhibit their development.

3. Periodic Plant Monitoring

Observations related to the population of pests and diseases in a plant are very important. Buddy can make observations at least once a week or more often will be better. By knowing the type of pest that perches on the plant, you can immediately make further observations regarding the number and how much damage to plants caused by the presence of pests or diseases.

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The data and observations obtained will be used as reference material for making decisions, especially regarding the type of pest control desired. Of course, while still considering the effectiveness and efficiency of maintenance, yes, my friend!