PADAT POPULASI ULAT GRAYAK (Spodoptera litura) DAN BELALANG (Valanga nigricornis) PADA TANAMAN KEDELAI (Glycine max)
Abstract Soybean is the most important food commodity in Indonesia after rice and corn. Soybean production in Indonesia has increased every year but it still cannot meet the national needs. The national need for soybean consumption in 2013 reached 2.24 million tons, but production only reached 779,992 tons. North Kalimantan has the potential in soybean cultivation as it produced soybean by 2,239 tons in 2015. In 2014 its production amounted to 97 tons and in 2013 to 84 tons. However, soybean plants are very susceptible to pests such as Grayak caterpillars (Spodoptera litura) and grasshoppers (Valanga nigricornis) which always eat their leaves. The purpose of this study was to determine the population densities of S. litura and V. nigricornis pests in soybean plants. Using a descriptive method, this research was conducted in December 2018 to February 2019 in the Experimental Garden of Borneo Tarakan University. The results showed that the highest population density of S. litura was 0.40/plant found at plants aged 60 DAP, while the highest population density of V. nigricornis was 0.08/plants found at plants aged 36 DAP. Keywords: Soybean, Spodoptera litura, Valanga nigricornis