Pest Diseases on Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt) and Its Damage Symptoms

Abstract

Nutmeg plants (Myristica fragrans Houtt) in Indonesia are cultivated by smallholder plantations (98%) and the rest (2%) by large state plantations. In 2022, the area of nutmeg plantations in Indonesia will increase, but productivity per hectare will decrease. One of the causative factors is the attack of plant-disturbing organisms such as pests and diseases of nutmeg plants. The study aimed to determine the types of pests and diseases of nutmeg plants in the study area and to identify the symptoms of crop damage they cause. The results showed that nutmeg plants' pests were moths, grasshoppers, thrips, mealybugs, and fruit flies. The types of diseases found were wet fruit rot, dry fruit rot, and leaf spot disease. Damage intensity due to dry fruit rot disease reached 49.28%. Wet rot disease was only found in the Nutmeg Development Center in Bogor Regency with a damage intensity of 52.93%, while the intensity of damage due to leaf spot disease reached 48.08%