In tropical climates, Sitophilus zeamais Motsch is the main pest of maize, often found when the plants are still in the field or storage warehouses. Damage to the products or stored materials has a significant effect on the economic value because 1) the materials are ready for consumption and 2) the materials have cost a lot of money from the seeding, tillage, planting, maintenance, to the harvesting stage. Thus, slight damage to the stored materials due to the pests can cause significant losses compared to attacks by other plant-disturbing organisms. Moreover, attacks from these insects will reduce the quality and quantity of materials, such as changes in color, taste, and unpleasant odor, and even cause contamination of diseases carried by these organisms such as aflatoxins and a decrease in nutritional quality, seed weight, and percentage of germination, which in turn will reduce the market value. In many literatures, it is stated that the quantity of S. zeamais Motsch attacks ranges from 26 to 29% and even reaches above 30%. In South Sulawesi, the damage has reached 85%, which can reduce the quantity of materials by up to 17%. If the moisture content of the stored material is high enough, between 18 - 20%, the attack rate of these pests will also be higher. This condition can cause damage between 30 - 40% with a weight loss of 12.65 - 21.54%. This paper discusses a closer introduction to the insect pest S zeamais Motsch, which includes the role of this pest in damaging agricultural products and its impacts and the biological, morphological, and ecological attributes of insects. The authors hope that this information can be useful in information technology about insects.

The maize weevil is corn pests that reduce production and damages the storage quality. Therefore, pest management should simultaneously be carried out by applying all available technologies. This pest can damage up to 30% of plant productivity, not including the value of losses due to decreased quality of hazardous materials for health and safety, both as feed and feed. Aflatoxin contamination for example, can be dangerous if consumed. This paper is a desk study that reviews some literature, attempts to describe the role of cultivation technology improvement, crop protection, optimum watering, phosphate fertilization, the technology of postharvest handling, management of water content of corn kernels, sanitation, cleanliness, warehouse management, pesticide use, and fumigation in reducing the scale of damage and increasing the added value of production, and improving the quality of stored materials so that they are safe to use, both as food and feed. The utilization of cultivation technology management and good postharvest handling will have an impact on controlling and reducing the damage quality of storage materials and increasing the safe product quality for both food and feed needs as well.

<p>Indonesia has numerous and varied natural resources of spices plant which grow at almost all theregions. These plants can grow and adapt to the slightly diverse agroecological conditions and agroecosystems, from dry to wet. In general, the utilization of these plants by the community is still limited as ingredients and spices for culinary and flavoring instead of the potential of bioactive compounds contained therein. These resourcesare very useful and effective utilized asbioinsecticides to eradicate plant pests and diseases, as well as medicine for human. This paper discussed the benefits and efficacy of several spiceplants, namely lemongrass, shallots, garlic, sweet and chili peppers, clove, sand ginger (kencur), and pepper as herbicides at various levels of dosage and treatments. This manuscript also discussed the constraints and development strategies, and aimed to provide information on the science and technology in controlling the Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch) pests in corn kernels during the storage period. It is expected that this paper would be useful for the policy makers, academicians, researchers and practitioners who have the competence to deal with beetle pest problems.</p><p>Keywords: Spices, bioinsecticides, Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch), controlling</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p>Tanaman rempah yang tumbuh di hampir seluruh wilayah Indonesia sangat beragam. Tanaman ini beradaptasi pada berbagai agroekologi dan agroekosistem, mulai dari wilayah beriklim kering sampai beriklim basah. Pemanfaatan tanaman ini oleh masyarakat umumnya masih terbatas sebagai bahan rempah dan bumbu kuliner, penyedap masakan dan cita rasa, padahal senyawa bioaktif yang terkandung di dalamnya potensial sebagai pestisida nabati untuk membasmi hama penyakit tanaman dan bahan obat kesehatan manusia. Tulisan ini membahas manfaat dan kemanjuran dari beberapa tanaman rempah, yakni tanaman sereh, bawang merah, bawang putih, lombok merah, cengkeh, kencur, dan lada sebagai pestsisida nabati dalam berbagai dosis dan ragam perlakuan. Kendala dan strategi pengembangan pestisida nabati bagi penggulangan hama kumbang bubuk perlu mendapat perhatian yang tidak saja untuk kepentingan masyarakat luas, namun diperlukan sebagai informasi ilmu dan teknologi penanganan hama secara terpadu.</p><p>Kata kunci: tanaman rempah, bioinsektisida, hama kumbang bubuk, pengendalian</p>

Background: Soybean productivity in Indonesia remains low yield due to the occurrence of pests and diseases. Here, our study aimed to determine the number of soybean rows and varieties in the soybean-corn intercropping system and the damage level, pest and predator populations. Methods: The study used a split-plot design with three replications. The main plot was soybean varieties (Dena-1, Detap-1 and Deja-1) and the subplots consisted of monoculture (soybean); three rows of soybeans and two rows of corn; four rows of soybean and two rows of corn; six rows of soybean and two rows of corn. Result: The six rows of soybeans and two rows of corn showed the lowest attack rate of Spodoptera litura and Etiella zinckenella, the lowest population of Aphis glycines and Riptortus linearis, the highest predatory population of Crocothemis servilia and Coccinella sp. and the highest predator populations of Euborellia annulata. The highest attack rate of S.litura was in Dena-1. In contrast, the highest intensity of E.zinckenella pest damage was in Dena-1 and Deja-1. The corn-soybean intercropping was recommended as the best practice for sustainable agriculture production due to facilitating in the increase of growth of predator population and reducing the level of crop damage due to pest attacks.

The use of natural enemies can reduce the application of insecticides which have a negative influence on ecosystems and human health. The objective of this study is to inventory the insitu of the natural enemies in corn crops that found in the experimental station of Indonesian Cereals Research Institute (Balitsereal) in Maros, South Sulawesi. The observation plot used three replications by taking a sample of 30 plants for each replication, with a total plant observation of 90 units per block. The number of natural enemy populations obtained was recorded by counting the number of natural enemies to find out the total average number of natural enemy populations contained in the observation plot. The results showed that there were 11 types of natural enemies in corn crops namely Harmonia octomaculata (lady beetle), Menochilus sexmaculatus (lady beetle), Ophionea nigrofasciata (Schmidt-Goebel) (ground beetle), Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter (plant bug), Panstenon nr. Collaris Boucek (wasp), Araneus inustus (orb spider), Cardiochiles philippinensis (wasp), Phanerotoma sp. (wasp), Pipunculus mutillatus (big-headed fly), Harpalus pensylvanicus and Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens). The existance of the above natural enemies will be very usefull in decreasing the pesticide application in the fields.