INTENSITAS SERANGAN HAMA BOLENG DAN HASIL UBI JALAR YANG DITANAM PADA BERBAGAI VARIASI KETINGGIAN MEDIA TANAM DALAM KARUNG

ATTACK INTENSITY OF SWEETPOTATO WEEVIL AND YIELD OF SWEETPOTATO GROWN AT VARIOUS GROWING MEDIA HEIGHT IN SACKS

Abstrak

The sweet potato weevil (Cylas sp.) is a major pest of sweet potato that can cause tuber damage of up to 100%. This study aimed to determine the effect of different planting medium heights in sacks on sweet potato weevil population, weevil infestation intensity, and sweet potato yield. The research was conducted from October 2025 to January 2026 on a sweet potato farm in Sigerongan Village, Lingsar District, West Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Indonesia. The experiment employed a Latin Square Design (LSD) consisting of five planting medium height treatments (T1 = 20 cm, T2 = 30 cm, T3 = 40 cm, T4 = 50 cm, and T5 = 60 cm) with five replications. The observed parameters included identification of sweet potato weevil species, weevil population, weevil infestation intensity, tuber weight, number of tubers, tuber length, and tuber diameter. The identification results revealed the presence of two sweet potato weevil species, namely Cylas formicarius and Cylas puncticollis. Planting medium height affected the weevil population, with the highest population recorded at a medium height of 20 cm (19 individuals) and the lowest at 60 cm (1 individual). However, planting medium height had no significant effect on infestation intensity. The infestation intensity decreased from 15.23% (moderate category) at a planting medium height of 20 cm to 1.67% (low category) at a height of 60 cm. The 20 cm planting medium height treatment produced the highest number of tubers, averaging 9.80 tubers per plant, whereas the 40 cm planting medium height treatment resulted in the highest tuber weight, averaging 259.5 g per plant. Regression analysis showed a negative relationship between weevil infestation intensity and sweet potato tuber weight (R² = 0.7416) and a positive relationship between weevil population and weevil damage intensity (R² = 0.9449).