MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF NETTLE CATERPILLAR’S POPULATION CONTROL WITH PREDATOR IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

• Main Author: Syukriyah, Yenie
• Format: Dissertations
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/56850
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The nettle caterpillar eats leaves in oil palm plantations and significantly reduce production. In all stages, oil palm leaves can be eaten by nettle caterpillar. The nettle caterpillar eats the leaves until they have holes or completely exhausted and only the bone left. Commonly used pest control is chemical insecticides, but it can cause environmental problems and disruption to the food chain. Therefore, the handling of caterpillars is carried out by means of pest control that utilizes natural enemies in the form of predatory insects. In this study, the population dynamics of caterpillars and oil palm were studied through mathematical modeling. This is important to do because mathematical modeling can provide projections of the growth of caterpillars and their control strategies. This study builds a model of the nettle caterpillar population dynamics through its life cycles, the use of natural enemies (caterpillar predators) as well as involving the surface area of oil palm leaves. The model is described in the form of compartments and expressed in a system of ordinary differential equations. For each model, analysis and numerical simulations were carried out. From the simulation results and model analysis, it was found that the presence of predators could restrain the growth rate of caterpillars. The natural growth rate of predators not only affects the predator population itself, but also greatly affects the growth of the caterpillar population which indirectly affects the leaf surface area.