Diversity and infestation of mistletoes in cultivation of sengon (Falcataria moluccana (Miq.) Barneby&J.W.Grimes) in Malang East Java Indonesia

Abstract

Mistletoes are hemiparasitic plants growing in the wild and cultivation plants such as sengon (Falcataria moluccana). Research aimed at inventing the diversity and infestation of mistletoes was conducted in cultivation areas of sengon in Malang Regency East Java Indonesia from September – December 2021. Data on mistletoes and their hosts was collected by exploratory and descriptive methods in ten districts and twenty villages. Purposive sampling was used and determined along tracks in line transects where sengon cultivation was found. Sample plots of 10x10 m were determined and made in each pattern of cultivation to enumerate the number and species of trees and mistletoes, and to measure the diameter of stems. The results showed that there were only two species of mistletoe discovered in sixteen cultivation patterns of sengon namely Scurrula atropurpurea (Blume) Danser and Viscum ovalifolium L. S. atropurpurea was the most dominant mistletoe in cultivation of sengon with parasite number of 906 individuals. The highest number of trees, infested trees, and mistletoes were obtained in the monoculture pattern of sengon. The highest severity index of mistletoe infestation was found in tangerine citrus + Sengon, i.e., 15. The average value of SI in all cultivation patterns was categorized as low, i.e., 5.28.