Resumen
The demand toward higher agricultural yield to support the rampant annual global population growth (1.1%) has exerted a great pressure on the usage of chemical pesticide and fertilizer in agriculture industry. However, the excessive application of modern synthetic pesticide and fertilizer poses various environmental issues and severe implications to human health which ultimately encourages the development of safer organic fertilizers and biopesticides. One of the potential methods is by utilizing Humic Acid (HA), a natural plant?s growth promoter that is readily available in organic compost as an environmental-friendly fertilizer as well as biopesticide. This study focused on the pesticidal ability of HA extracted from Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB): Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) vermicompost blended with various organic additives at Carbon to Nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 25, 30 and 35. The blending of EFB:POME based vermicompost with Fishmeal (Nitrogen contributor), Bonemeal (Phosphorus contributor) and Bunch Ash (Potassium contributor) enhanced the final macronutrient content of vermicompost, thus, promote its competitiveness in agricultural market. Next, HA was extracted from the vermicompost via alkaline extraction followed by precipitation in strong acid that resulted in HA mass yield of 2.34?2.63%. The insect repellent ability of HA, Garlic Extract (GE) and 87% GE + 13% HA was evaluated by spraying the solution onto different vessel filled with soil samples in the presence of crickets where the lesser number of crickets remained in the vessel indicates better ability in repelling insects. The test revealed that the insects exhibited most repulsive behavior towards 87% GE + 13% HA, followed by 100% HA and lastly 100% GE. This implies that HA has the potential to be used as biopesticide, with higher prospect when combined with GE. The dual benefits of HA utilization as plant growth promoter and insect repellent promise a more sustainable approach towards modern agriculture.