Farmers’ satisfaction with new superior varieties (NSVs) is a critical strategy for boosting their adoption. Out of 48 national NSV hybrids produced, only three, including Nasa-29, JH-37, and Bima-10, have been widely distributed at the farmer level. However, no studies have been carried out to establish farmers’ satisfaction of any of the three hybrid maize varieties. As a result, the main aim of this study is to establish farmers’ satisfaction of three-hybrid maize. The survey was conducted in three South Sulawesi maize production districts: Bone, Gowa, and North Luwu, representing the east, west, and transitional zones. A total of 150 farmers from three districts were then deliberately chosen as respondents. Variables such as seed availability, cultivation technology, post-harvest, and product marketing were monitored during our assessment. The data were then analyzed using the importance performance analysis (IPA) method. The findings indicate that seed quality and quantity, disease resistance, low yield, and productivity are the variables that require intervention to improve farmer satisfaction with the superiority of the national hybrid maize NSV. The low price of seeds, the ability to grow at 15 days, the small size of the cob, ease of harvest, and the accessibility of marketing the product at the best price were then deemed adequate variables.

Sitophilus zeamais is a major pest of cereal products in the storage that can reduce the quality and quantity of the grain. The use of resistant variety is an efficient method to control S. zeamais. This research aimed to evaluate the resistance of 8 early maturing hybrid maize genotypes to S. zeamais. The research was arranged in a single factor completely randomized design with 3 replications, involving 8 genotypes and 4 check varieties. Samples of 25 g seeds were stored in the container covered by gauze, then infested with same-aged 5 males and 5 females of S. zeamais and maintened to 105 days. Observed variables were the number of F1 progenies of S. zeamays, susceptibility index, seed damage, and weight loss. Based on the results, 3 early maturing hybrid maize genotypes (CH-19, CH-18 and CH-20) exhibited high resistance to the S. zeamais as indicated by their susceptibility index, number of progenies, percentage of seed damage, and weight loss. These genotypes had susceptibility index of 1.23-1.80 with low percentage of seed damage of 2.07-4.55%. Correlation tests showed that the susceptibility index of maize seeds had positive correlation with number of progenies and seed damage.Keywords: seed, stored pest, susceptibility index

In Indonesia, H. armigera caused loss in corn production until 40% and almost attack all region. Therefore, this pest is a concern especially in corn plantations in Indonesia. In the development of H. armigera pest control, the use of entomopathogenic fungi increases after the potential risks of using chemical pesticides in various aspects. Biological control using entomopathogen agents is an alternative control method that has been studied widely and considerably more effective and environmentally friendly. This study aims explore entomopathogen that attack H. armigera which will later be formulated and projected as candidates for biopesticides controlling H. armigera. This research sited in East Java, South Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi in 2011. This research was divided into several stages within a year which were carried out including surveys and samples collection, isolation, characterization, morphological identification and molecular identification (genotyping phylogenetic tree). The research found several pathogens from several location such as Rhizopus sp., Beauveria bassiana, Fusarium sp., Aspergilus flavus, and Gliocladium sp. The character of each Entomopathogenic fungus showed that every isolate has different color and shapes. Based on the results of DNA amplification from eleven fungal isolates using BOX primers, various fragments were produced with sizes ranging from 225 to 1250 bp. The results also showed that all the isolates tested had polymorphic bands with a polymorphic information Content (PIC) value of 0.84. This indicates that these isolates have a low level of polymorphism.