To Reduce the Risk of Early Planting Failure in Lebak Swamp Rice Fields, the Unsri Plant Protection PKM Team Trains Farmers in Sungai Rotan to Apply Antagonistic Microbial Biocontrol

The Community Service Team (PKM) from the Plant Protection Study Program at the Faculty of Agriculture, Sriwijaya University (FP Unsri), organized a mentoring program for a rice farmers’ group in Sungai Rotan Village, Rantau Panjang Subdistrict, Ogan Ilir Regency. This activity, supported by the Unsri Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) in 2026, was led by Rahmad Fadli, SP., M.Si., along with a team of faculty members consisting of Anton Meilus Putra, SP., M.Si., Nurlaili Habibi Danata, SP., M.Si., Titi Tricahyati, SP., M.Si., Dellania Eka Rindiani, S.P., M.Si., and Dr. Jelly Milinia Puspita Sari, S.P., M.Si., and involved a number of students in the field.

This program was initiated in response to the high rate of early rice crop failure in the lowland swamp areas of Sungai Rotan Village, which ranges from 30 to 50 percent. The acidic and oxygen-deprived conditions of the swamp soil, caused by waterlogging, trigger the growth of soil-borne pathogens that cause seedling blight and root rot. These problems are exacerbated by farmers’ practice of planting seeds without preliminary protective treatment, the still-low utilization of biological agents, and high dependence on chemical pesticides.

To address these cultivation challenges, the research team introduced an environmentally friendly biocontrol technology based on local antagonistic microbes from the Trichoderma spp. and Bacillus spp. groups. These biological agents, available in both liquid and powder formulations, work by competing with pathogens for space and nutrients, producing disease-inhibiting compounds, and enhancing the plants’ natural resistance from the early stages of growth, with an application rate of 10–20 milliliters of liquid formulation per kilogram of seed to cover an area of 0.25 to 0.5 hectares.

The series of training sessions is designed to be participatory, beginning with outreach sessions with village governments and farmer groups, followed by instruction on biological control, and culminating in hands-on practice of seed treatment and application to seedling media. In addition, this technology was directly tested on farmers’ fields through demonstration plots (demplots) as a comparison with conventional methods, accompanied by periodic monitoring of plant growth and root conditions.

Through this hands-on approach and continuous evaluation, farmers’ understanding of biological control of plant pests has significantly improved. Moving forward, the Unsri PKM team is committed to strengthening the self-reliance of farmer groups in independently producing and applying antagonistic microbes, developing simple application guidelines, and to cultivate “champion farmers” to expand the adoption of productive and sustainable lowland rice cultivation practices.