Holiday Ayo - Efforts to control pests in agricultural land no longer rely solely on poisons or chemicals.

Now, an ecological-based approach is starting to be widely adopted for controlling agricultural pests.

Associate Researcher who is also the Head of the Food Crops Research Center, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Yudhistira Nugraha said that the use of the Tyto alba owl can control rat pests in agricultural fields.

Through a statement on the official BRIN website in Jakarta, Friday, Yudhistira said that Tyto alba has the ability to prey on rats in significant numbers in the open, where an adult owl can eat several rats per night.

However, he emphasized that natural predators will not be effective enough if there is a rat population explosion (outbreak).

Therefore, the control strategy must be comprehensive by combining mechanical methods such as grobyokan, nest decomposition, and trap barrier systems as preventive measures.

"This integrated approach is the key to quickly suppressing the rat population before it stabilizes again with the help of natural predators," he said.

The use of owls as pest control, said Yudhistira, also requires careful management, because if the Tyto alba population is not controlled and their main food is depleted, they can prey on other species such as small birds, bats, and even small livestock.

Therefore, to support the conservation and effectiveness of owls, one of the best practices carried out by farmers is to provide owl houses in the form of nest boxes on poles 4 to 5 meters high on agricultural land.

"Because Tyto alba does not build its own nest, owl houses are the key to the success of this conservation program as well as being an important facility for them to settle and breed," he explained.

According to Yudhistira, the success of this approach is highly dependent on farmer involvement, adequate education, and policy support from the government.

Facilitating the provision of owl houses and monitoring bird populations is an important part of managing a healthy and sustainable agricultural ecosystem.

"The synergy of conservation that is integrated with an integrated pest control strategy is the future of a modern agricultural system that is safe from pests without damaging the environment," said Yudhistira Nugraha.

Previously, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the government would help procure 1,000 owls to help farmers in Majalengka, West Java, overcome the disturbing rat pest attack.

"We also have to find an anti-pest drug that we make ourselves. In this area I got a report, the rat pest is a very complicated problem, and the best thing now is said to be owls," said President Prabowo (7/4).