Rhyzopertha dominica is a primary pest which causes damages to stored cereals such as corn, grain, rice, wheat, sorghum, tubers, and starch-containing substrates and packaging made from wood.  They not only cause losses in terms of quantity but also affect quality during storage period through their feeding activities.  The aimed of this research to investigate the level of susceptibility and damage to cereals during the storage period by pest R. dominica. The cereals used in the study were sorghum, wheat, corn, rice grain, white rice, black glutinous rice, and white glutinous rice. The method used in this research was no-choice bioassay with variables observed: number of F1 progeny, median development time and damage cereals. The results revealed that that different kind of cereals had a different level of susceptibility to infestation by R. dominica from moderate to susceptible. Sorghum, corn, rice, white rice, and white glutinous rice were classified as moderate, while wheat was classified as susceptible and black glutinous rice was moderate–susceptible. The highest losses were found in wheat, black glutinous rice, corn, and rice grain while the lowest were found in sorghum, white rice and white glutinous rice. The study showed that cereals that were susceptible may not stored for a long time to minimize the loss of grain weight.ABSTRAK Rhyzopertha dominica tergolong hama primer yang merusak serealia seperti jagung, gabah, beras, gandum, sorgum, umbi, dan substrat mengandung pati serta kemasan yang terbuat dari kayu. Kerusakan serealia selama penyimpanan meliputi kerusakan kuantitas dan kualitas yang disebabkan oleh hama R. dominica. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mengetahui tingkat kerentanan dan kerusakan serealia selama penyimpanan oleh hama R. dominica. Jenis serealia yang digunakan dalam penelitian terdiri dari sorgum, gandum, jagung, gabah, beras putih, beras ketan hitam, dan beras ketan putih. Metode uji tanpa pilihan dengan variabel yang diamati yaitu jumlah F1, median waktu perkembangan, dan kerusakan serealia.  Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa jenis serealia memiliki tingkat kerentanan dari moderat sampai rentan terhadap infestasi hama R. dominica. Serealia dari sorgum, jagung, padi, beras putih, dan beras ketan putih tergolong dalam kategori moderat, sedangkan gandum tergolong dalam kategori rentan, serta beras ketan hitam tergolong moderat–rentan terhadap serangan R. dominica. Tingkat kerusakan serealia seperti persentase serealia berlubang dan persentase bubuk serealia paling tinggi terjadi pada gandum, beras ketan hitam, jagung dan padi sedangkan kerusakan yang terendah yaitu pada sorgum, beras putih, dan beras ketan putih. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa serealia yang rentan tidak boleh disimpan dalam waktu yang lama untuk meminimalkan kehilangan berat.

Gayo shallot (Allium cepa L.) is a local shallot cultivar from Central Aceh province that has just received a national superior shallot variety certificate. The objective of this study was to scientifically determine the superiority of Gayo shallots compared to other national superior varieties based on morphological characters, production, and quality of tubers. The study was conducted from July to December 2020. The field study was carried out in Lut Tawar Sub-district, Central Aceh Regency, while laboratory analysis was conducted at the Agroecotechnology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Malikussaleh. This research used a single-factor randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The treatments consisted of three varieties: local shallots Gayo, Batu Ijo, and Tajuk. Each unit treatment consisted of 5 plants, resulting in a total of 165 plants. The results showed that Gayo shallots' growth and performance differed from Batu Ijo and Tajuk. The height and number of leaves per clump of Gayo and Tajuk shallot plants were not significantly different. Gayo shallot plant height was 28.50 cm and Tajuk was 28.30 cm, and the number of leaves per Gayo shallot's clump reached 17.80 and Tajuk 15.50, while Batu Ijo's height was 36.05 cm and the number of leaves per clump was 28.10 at 8 weeks after planting (WAP). Batu Ijo had better growth and yield of tubers than Gayo and Tajuk shallots. Regarding similarity, the physical appearance of plants and tuber yields from Gayo was more similar to Tajuk (67%) compared to Batu Ijo (57%).

Accurate information on the species and host spectrum is an important aspect of fruit flies management. The study was conducted in August to November 2018 to evaluate the host range and species diversity of fruit flies in Lembah Seulawah District, Aceh Besar Regency, Aceh Province, Indonesia. Fruit flies were collected from 3 villages in Kemukiman Saree: Suka Damai, Suka Mulia, and Saree Aceh. The insects were collected using the trapping method. The modified Lynfield trap baited with methyl eugenol (ME) was used in the research. This modified Lynfield trap was applied using used mineral bottles. Shannon-Wiener diversity index, evenness index, and dominance were applied to determine the diversity of fruit flies. The results revealed that there were six species of fruit flies that acted as pests in 21 species of host plants belonged to 12 families. They were Bactrocera carambolae, Bactrocera latifrons, Bactrocera limbifera, Bactrocera papayae, Bactrocera umbrosa, and Bactrocera verbascifoliae. B. carambolae was found to be dominant insect pest even though the results indicated that diversity and evenness index of fruit flies species in this district were low.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application of biocompost and mycorrhizae fungi on chemical properties of inceptisol soil and root infection on purple corn plants.  This research was conducted in October-December 2020 at Experimental Garden, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Malikussaleh in Reuleut Village, Muara Batu District, Aceh Utara, employing Randomized Block Design (RBD) Factorial with 2 factors observed.  The first factor observed was different doses of biocompost: B0 (0 ton/ha, 0 g/plot), B1 (5 tons/ha, 1500 g/plot), B2 (10 tons/ha, 3000 gr/plot) and B3 (15 tons/ha, 4500 gr/plot). The second factor was M0 (0 ton/ha, 0 gr/plot, 0 g/plant), M1 (0.25 tons/ha, 75 g/plot, 5 g/plant) dan M2 (0,5 ton/ha, 150 g/plot, 10 g/plant).  The results indicated that the application of biocompost together with mycorrhizae has increased soil pH from 5.0 to 5.5 and the application of biocompost alone has improved the organic C (1.58% to 2.98%) and the application of mycorrhizae improved the root infection by 90%. The application of 5 ton/ha biocompost and 0.5 ton/ha mycorrhizae were to be found to be the best doses to improve the chemical properties of inceptisol soil and mycorrhizal infection.Keywords: biocompost, inceptisols, purple corn, mycorrhizal fungi