PERTUMBUHAN POPULASI Pentalonia nigronervosa PADA TANAMAN KAPULAGA(Elettaria cardamomum) DAN PENGARUHNYA TERHADAP EFISIENSINYA SEBAGAI VEKTOR PENYAKIT BBTV

One of diseases causing production reduction of banana is Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) caused by Banana Bunchy Top Virus. The obvious symptom on infected banana is the appearance of Morse like lines and dots along the leaf midrib, leaf becomes narrow and fragile. Banana plant infected at young stage cannot produce fruit, but infected mature plant produces b fruit but the fruit is not consumable. Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) is transmitted by vector insect called Pentalonia nigronervosa. Not only with banana, P. nigronervosa also in association with various plants such as ginger, galangal, caladium, and cardamom. This research was aimed at knowing the growth and development of Pentalonia nigronervosa population on cardamom plant and the effects of the plant on the efficiency of the insect as the vector of the virus. The method applied was an experiment arranged in a block randomised design with 2 treatments and 10 replications. Each experimental unit consisted of 3 plants. Observation was made to collect data on population, disease incidence and disease severity. The results showed that the highest disease incidence was that of control amounted to 71,74 % with disease severity 37,30 %, while the lowest incidence was that of cardamom treatment amounted to 5,92 % with disease severity of 10,28%. Based on total incidence and severity of all observations, cardamom on average had effect on lower disease incidence and severity. Statistically, the plant had significant effects on disease incidence and severity through its effect on P. nigronervosa.. Population growth of P. nigronervosa on cardamom showed average of 70,5 on soil media and 100,8 on water media. Both media showed that P. nigronervosa was able to grow and develop on cardamom. Keywords: Pentalonia nigronervosa, Banan Bunchy To Virus, cardamom