A. Overview
Bio-pesticide stands for biological
pesticide which made from organic material without any synthetic substances
(free from chemical substances). Most of the organic materials that are used to
make bio-pesticide are got from the plants. We can use the root, leaf, or seed
and make the essence to be bio-pesticide. Furthermore, it is very easy for us
to make bio-pesticide, even for someone that does not deal in agriculture
field.
There are two kinds of
bio-pesticides. The first one is bio-pesticide which is made from the essence
of the plant, and the second one is bio-pesticide which is made from microbe.
Bio-pesticide which is made from the essence of the plant can kill the pest
like grasshopper, louse in the leaf, and soldier worm, whereas the bio-pesticide
which is made from the microbe can kill the pest like nematode and insect pest.
All kinds of the bio-pesticide kill the specific target.
Many plants and microbes have been
confirmed as the materials that can be used to make bio-pesticide. Some of the
examples of the plant that can be used as the material for making the
bio-pesticide are tobacco (Nicotiana
tabacum), nimba (Azedarachta indica),
papaya (Carica papaya), garlic (Allium cepa), chili (Chapsicum annum), and tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum). The
qualification of the plant can be considered as the bio-pesticide is simple.
The main qualification that must be fulfilled is the plant never or hard to be
attacked by the pest or another harmful insect. Besides that, most of the
materials to make a bio-pesticide from microbes come from the fungi, bacteria,
virus, and protozoa. Some of the examples are pathogenic virus like NPV and GV,
bacteria like Bacillus thuringiensis, and fungi like trichoderma can control several nematodes and
insect pest.
Bio-pesticide is easy to be made
especially the bio-pesticide which is made from the essence of the plant. We
just need to make the essence of the plant by squeezing the plant to get the
essence. As the example, take one kilogram of papaya leaves, slice become small
pieces, and put it in the 15 liters of water. Then put 2 cup of spoon of
kerosene or soap liquid to the water. After one night filter the liquid, and
spray to the plant that wants to be protected.
B.
The Advantages of Using
Bio-Pesticide
Most of the farmers do not use the
bio-pesticide, yet they use chemical pesticide in the agricultural practice.
The reason is most of them do not know the dangerous of chemical pesticide.
Furthermore, they do not know what are the advantages that they will get if
they stop using chemical pesticide and start using bio-pesticide. So, the first
thing that they have to know is the advantages that they will get after using
the bio-pesticide.
1.
Being safe to be used for the environment and human
Bio-pesticide
is biodegradable. In other words, bio-pesticide is easy to be recycled by the
nature. It can happen because the bio-pesticide is made from the organic
material. So, when the bio-pesticide reaches the soil after the spraying, the
bio-pesticide will be recycled by the bacteria and another microorganism
quickly and safely. Not only by the bacteria and the microorganism which lives
in the soil but also bio-pesticide can be recycled by the sun light, air,
humidity, and another environment factor that might affect. Next, the materials
that have been recycled will be sent back to the nature as the safe material
and will not make the environment polluted especially will not pollute the soil
and the water. This can happens because the materials that have been recycled
do not contain toxic substances anymore. This will keep the balance of the
ecosystem that live in the nature on track.
Not only safe for the environment,
but also the bio-pesticide is safe for the human as the object that will
consume the agricultural product. As we know the pesticide that is sprayed to
the plant will make a residue in the plant and stay there for a certain time.
Sometimes, even when we wash our vegetable cleanly, the residue of the
pesticide substances will keep staying in the vegetable that we will consume.
But we do not have to worry if the agricultural product that we will consume
using bio-pesticide. The reason is the substances which are contained in the
bio-pesticide are safe for human. It is strong enough to kill the pest, but it
is too weak to give an effect to human. Even, it does not give any serious
problem that should be deal with.
It does not happen in case of the
using of chemical pesticide. When we use the chemical pesticide, the chemical
substances or in other words the toxic material and other dangerous substances
will stay in the soil for years. It will affect the bacteria and other
beneficial microorganism which are located in the soil. The toxic material will
contaminate the beneficial organism like worm or even kill the organism.
Furthermore, a certain dosage of the toxic will stay in the plant and become
the residue that will stay and cannot be vanished from the plant even if we
wash it cleanly. And something that makes it become a serious problem is that
the pesticide residue which is stayed in the vegetable is a toxic material.
2. Keeping
the Natural Predators Alive
Before knowing the reason why
bio-pesticide keeps the natural predators alive, we have to know first the
definition of natural predators. Natural predators are the predators of the
pest that attacks the agricultural plant. Most of the purpose of the attacking
is to get the food. Some of the examples of the natural predators are the
predatory insect (such as mantis, dragonfly, and ant), and animals that eat
other animals for their food (such as snake that prey the rat that become a
pest in paddy field. Are natural predators important for farmers ? Yes, it is
very important in agricultural practice. The main reason that makes it become
so important is the habitual of the natural predators itself. When the natural
predators prey the insect or other animals that become a pest in the
agriculture field, automatically the natural predators take a part as the
controller in the agriculture field that controls the population of the pest
the field. On other words, the natural predators give benefit to the farmer
whether the farmer realize it or not.
Now, what will happen if we use
chemical pesticide with a high toxicity without a correct dosage? The chemical
pesticide will kill all the living organisms in the ecosystem of the
agriculture field. The chemical pesticide will not just kill the pest but also
it will kill the natural predators that live in the field. This will disturb
the balance that has been occurred in the ecosystem. The impact is farmers will
lose their partner in controlling the pest in the future. And it will just make
farmers use the chemical pesticide more and more because the natural enemy has
vanished.
This will not happen if farmers use
bio-pesticide in agricultural practice to kill the pest. The natural predators
will keep alive and will not get any effect from the bio-pesticide. It is
possible to happen because bio-pesticide works very specific in terms of
killing the target. As the example, mindi
seed (Melia azedarach) will just give
effect to the grasshopper. So when farmers use bio-pesticide which is made from
the essence of mindi, other living
organisms including the natural predators will not get any effect on it. This
specificity of the bio-pesticide makes it become a powerful pesticide but it is
very safe to use because it only attacks a specific target and cannot attack
other living organisms which are not suitable to the bio-pesticide.
3. Preventing the Resistance of the Pest
Sometimes, even though the farmer
has used the chemical pesticide, the pest is controlled just for a certain of
time. Few moments later, for example in the next month, the farmer finds that
the same pest explodes again. When farmers want to use the pesticide (chemical
one) and sprays it the field, the pest cannot be controlled anymore. Farmers
have to add more dosage in using the pesticide to control the same pest or use
another chemical pesticide which is stronger than before. This is called as the
resistance of the pest. Resistance is the ability of the insect’s offspring to
tolerate the pesticide that kills its ancestor. This condition can be happened
because the insect’s offspring bring the new gene that is tolerable to the
pesticide. This gene is created by the ancestor as the adaptation action to
respond the toxic material that is contained in the chemical pesticide.
But it will not happen if farmers
use bio-pesticide. The reason is bio-pesticide contains several active toxins
that work in the same time. This active toxin is produced in the second
metabolite of the plant that is used as the material to make bio-pesticide. It
is different from chemical pesticide because chemical pesticide contains only
one active toxin. It is difficult for the pest to tolerate to the several
active toxins that contain in bio-pesticide in the same time. The pest will just
able to make one resistance gene for each generation. Furthermore, it needs
long process and long time to create many resistance gene that can tolerate all
the active toxins that are contain in the chemical pesticide. read part 3 or back to part 1
