The use of chemical pesticides in crop pest control at this time many negative impacts. The problem of environmental pollution is an obvious consequence, besides continuous use of pesticides can also cause resistance to pests and even leave pesticide residues on agricultural products that can be harmful if consumed by humans.
Before you described about how to manipulate chemical compounds secreted by insects and plants for pest control, please note in advance about the kinds of chemical compounds.
1. Pheromone, a substance secreted by the organism, and useful to communicate chemically with each other within the same species. Based on its function there are two groups of pheromones, namely:
a. Pheromones "releaser", which gives a direct influence on the central nervous system of the individual recipient to generate immediate response behavior. This pheromone consists of three types, namely the sex pheromone, pheromone trail, and an alarm pheromone.
b. Primer pheromones, which affect the nervous system, endocrine and reproductive individual recipient causing physiological changes.
2. Allomon, is a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds released by an organism and cause a response in individuals of other species. The organism releases a profit, is being harmed its recipients. For plants, this allomon can be used as a defense nature of insect herbivores.
3. Kairomon, is a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds released by an organism and cause physiological and behavioral responses in individuals of other species. These chemical compounds cause an adaptive advantage for insects, individual recipients.
4. Apneumon, is a chemical compound that became the liaison between insects with inanimate objects. Insect continues to breed with fertile and become the food of some species of predators.
5. Sinomon, are chemical compounds produced by organisms that can cause physiological or behavioral responses that provide adaptive advantage on both sides.
This technique of chemical compounds such as one alternative to control plant pests are as follows.
A. Utilization of synthetic pheromone compounds (feromoid)
Sex pheromone compounds of some species of insects have been identified, and has also made synthesis among others Spodoptera litura.
B. Cropping pattern and crop intercropping trap
Intercropping systems often cause a decrease in the pest population density than the monoculture system, and this is because the role of volatile chemical compounds (volatile) are removed and a visual disturbance by the host plant will not affect the behavior and speed of colonization of insects on host plants. For example, the garlic plant that is planted among crops cabbage can reduce the population of Plutella xylostella that attack the cabbage plant. This is due to compounds released by garlic compounds is not the same as cabbage plants removed so that P. xylostella less like habitats such intercropped plants
C. Fitting Compounds / Essential Oils
The basic principle of this technique together with intercropping cropping pattern. The difference, in this technique does not need to plant crops on the sidelines of the main crop, but only install the volatile compounds, either synthetic or the result of extraction of natural (essential oils), in certain places in the area of crop cultivation. Until now the most volatile compounds used were methyl eugenol as a male fruit fly pest traps. 1.8-cineole compound which is a pull compounds for banana pests, ie beetles Cosmopolites sordidus. In addition to controlling pests that attack crops, is also volatile compounds have been tested for pest control warehouse. Thymol and carvacrol phenol compounds derived from plants Thymus serpyllum and terpinen-4-ol is derived from Origanum majorama can be used as a fumigant uintuk soybean pest beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus. Eugenol from clove is effective against pest Tribolium castaneum, Sitophilus zeamais, and Prostephanus truncatus. Thus, these volatile compounds is expected to be used to replace chemical fumigation material that has been applied so far in storage warehouses. Research on a commercial scale needs to be done to prove the effectiveness of this technology.
D. Utilization of waste / organic materials
These techniques utilize chemical compounds apneumon as a liaison between insects with inanimate objects. Trash as a hotbed of natural enemies, particularly predators, apparently not thought to means of pest control. Trash (former weed Benefits of Sleep) is a live media is good for natural enemies. Rotting garbage is actually a live media microorganisms become food predation. As a result of plant pest populations can be reduced with the increase in these predators.