Abstract:
The larva of Plutella xylostella causes damage to cruciferous plants by feeding the
tissue between the leaf surfaces. To increase the production of organic cabbage
vegetables, it is necessary to develop botanical pesticides. This study aims to describe
the effect of vermicompost with additives of various botanical pesticides on the
intensity of the moth diamondback attack and cabbage yield. The pot experiment
employed randomized block design, with six treatments including plants: (1) without
vermicompost and pesticide (control), (2) with synthetic pesticide application (SP), (3)
with the application of the mixture of vermicompost and neem (V+N), (4) with the
application of the mixture of vermicompost and papaya (V+P), (5) with the application
of the mixture of vermicompost and marigolds leaves (V+M), (6) with the application
of a mixture of vermicompost and soursop leaves (V+S). Each treatment has five
replications and three pot samples per replication. The results showed that at the end
observation of attack intensity of P. xylostella, treating cabbage with marigold leaves
(20.26%) and soursop leaves (17.50%) had the same effectiveness with synthetic
pesticide (21.86%) and significantly different with the other treatments (P < 0.05) by
intensity attack of 29.69% (neem leaves) and 24.31% (papaya leaves). Treating cabbage
with either soursop leaves or marigold leaves increases the size of the cabbage head,
marketable yield, fresh weight and dry weight of biomass total and significantly
different from the other treatments (P< 0.05). The results suggest that application of
vermicompost with botanical pesticide additives is effective to control P. xylostella in
the production of organic vegetables.
