INOVASI PERLAKUAN BENIH DAN IMPLEMENTASINYA UNTUK MEMPRODUKSI BENIH BERMUTU TANAMAN REMPAH DAN OBAT - Supriadi Supriadi (Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Pertanian, 2018)
Plant seeds can be seeds, shoots, cuttings, tendrils, or tubers. Seedtreatment is the earliest, safest, and environmentally friendly strategy in controlling plant pests and pathogens. The seed treatment can be physical, chemical, and biological, such as soaking in hot water (45oC), treatments with chemical and botanical pesticides, as well as biological agents. Chemical pesticides that are specifically recommended for the treatment of spice and medicinal plants (SMPs) seeds are very limited or even not yet in Indonesia, even though the problems in seed productionare very large, especially in the form of cuttings and rhizomes. Thetypes of infectious pests of SMPs are quite numerous and harmful.Several innovations have been pioneered domestically, such as themethod of deeping and coating of seeds, but are still limited to pepper and ginger seeds. The effectiveness of seed treatment for bulky vegetative seeds, such as rhizomes, is hampered due to its limitation in the absorption of active ingredients into the seed tissue so that its effect on pests and pathogens alre ady present in the seed is less successful. Existing methods of seed treatments need to be improved, such as by seed priming, i.e. soaking the seeds in active ingredients until the seeds imbibed so that more active ingredients are absorbed. The seed priming method is suitable for treating seeds with active ingredients in the form of biological agents, such as endophytic microbes. In its development, this method can combine several types of biological agents and carriers, such as fillers, binders, adhesives, and surfactants to improve the stability offormulas during storage and their effectiveness in the field. Keywords: seed treatment, pests, pathogents, medicinal and spice plants.Keywords: seed treatment, pests and pathogents, medicinal and spice crops. AbstrakBenih tanaman dapat berupa biji, pucuk, setek, sulur, atau umbi. Perlakuan benih merupakan strategi dalam pengendalian hama dan patogen (OPT) paling dini, aman, dan ramah lingkungan. Perlakuan benih tanaman rempah dan obat dapat dilakukan secara fisik, kimia, dan biologi, seperti perendaman dalam air panas (45oC), perlakuan pestisida kimia dan nabati, serta agens hayati. Pestisida kimia yang khusus direkomendasikan untuk perlakuan benih tanaman rempah dan obat sangat terbatas atau bahkan belum ada di Indonesia, padahal permasalahan dalam produksi benih sangat besar, terutama berupa setek dan rimpang. Jenis OPT tular benih tanaman rempah dan obat cukup banyak dan merugikan. Beberapa inovasi perlakuan benih tanaman rempah dan obat sudah dirintis di dalam negeri, seperti metode pencelupan dan pelapisan, tetapi masih terbatas pada benih lada dan jahe. Keefektifan perlakuan benih vegetatif yang massanya cukup besar, seperti rimpang-rimpangan, adalah terbatasnya penyerapan bahan aktif ke dalam jaringan benih sehingga pengaruhnya terhadap OPT yang sudah ada dalam benih kurang berhasil. Inovasi yang sudah ada perlu diperbaiki untuk menghasilkan perlindungan yang lebih optimal, antara lain denganmetode “seed priming”, yaitu merendam benih di dalam larutan bahan aktif sampai benih mengembang sehingga bahan aktif akan lebih banyak diserap oleh benih. Metode “seed priming” cocok untuk perlakuan benih dengan bahan aktif berupa agens hayati, seperti mikroba endofit. Dalam pengembangannya, metode ini dapat mengombinasikan beberapa jenis agens hayati dan bahan pembawa, seperti bahan pengisi, pengikat, perekat, dan surfaktan untuk meningkatkan stabilitas formula selama penyimpanan dan keefektifannya di lapangan.Kata kunci: Perlakuan benih, hama, patogen, tanaman rempah danobat.