See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/334779550

Tropical field assessment on pests for Misai Kucing cultivation under

agrivoltaics farming system

Conference Paper in AIP Conference Proceedings · July 2019

DOI: 10.1063/1.5118010

CITATIONS READS
7 218

4 authors:

N.F. Othman Syari Jamian

16 PUBLICATIONS 100 CITATIONS

Universiti Putra Malaysia
15 PUBLICATIONS 122 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

Ahmad Suhaizi Mat Su M. Effendy Ya'acob

Universiti Putra Malaysia Universiti Putra Malaysia
56 PUBLICATIONS 362 CITATIONS 33 PUBLICATIONS 255 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Syari Jamian on 19 February 2023.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Tropical Field Assessment on Pests for Misai Kucing
Cultivation Under Agrivoltaics Farming System

N Fadzlinda Othman1,(a), S Jamian4,5, A S Mat Su1, M E Ya’acob2,3

1
Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400,
Selangor, Malaysia
2
Department of Process & Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400,
Selangor, Malaysia
3
Centre for Advanced Lightning and Power Energy Research (ALPER), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400,
Selangor, Malaysia
4
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400, Selangor,
Malaysia
5
Institue of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang Malaysia
a)
Corresponding author: fadzlin013@gmail.com

Abstract. Herbal plants have good potential of virtually untapped reservoir of bioactive chemical compounds with
many potential application in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Currently, photovoltaic (PV) project landscapes
are transformed to a new transdisciplinary design of land used and extended to ecological performances and
beneficial impacts to the surroundings. Malaysia has been actively promoting the adaptation of PV technology as an
alternative energy mix with agri-based activities. Agrivoltaics concept combines the PV technology adaptation with
crops plantation with respect to the space and wiring constraints. Nevertheless, there is limited study on the potential
risk of pests which would evolve under the agrivoltaics condition. This study provides some insights of tropical
field assessments of potential pests attacking Misai Kucing herbal crops under PV array structure especially during
the monsoon season. It is observed that few species of pests emerged due to the wet and humid condition despite the
dissipated heat during energy conversion. It is observed that high humidity level due to water evaporation process
with PV shading features provides a good attraction for pests which increases the risk of attack to Misai Kucing
plants.
Keywords: Agrivoltaics, Pests, Tropical Climate, Dissipated heat, Ground mounted PV

INTRODUCTION

The combination of crops plantation in Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Farms has open up a unique insight of a Nexus
integration to both segments’ energy generation and agriculture cultivation. In terms of payback period and economics
of scale, this idea has been proven beneficial based on study by [1] Othman et al. (2014) whom projected 10 months
of Return-on-Investment (ROI) for 1-acre AgroPV integrated solar farm with Net Present Value (NPV) of
RM8,863.59. Agrivoltaics concept is generally based on Photovoltaic technology adaptation with crops plantation
with respect to the space and wiring constraints.
Dinesh and Pearce (2016) [2] have highlighted the issue of increasing competition for land resources for food
production and energy generation via green technology which is exacerbated by the increasing population in urban
area. Thus, the concept of agrivoltaics or co-developing the same area of land is the best solution. Typical example
of agrivoltaics projects as shared by Dupraz (2011) [3] are shown in Figure 1 for a 12 feet height system.

Photovoltaic project landscapes are transformed to a new

transdisciplinary design of land used and extended to
ecological performances and beneficial impacts to the
surroundings. Direct solar energy applications are usually
based on the building design and direct DC conversion
concept and a passive design utilizes the light energy from
the sun for artificial lighting and heating. Based on MS IEC
61836, the photovoltaic panels are defined as PV modules
which are mechanically integrated, pre-assembled, and
electrically interconnected whereas photovoltaic system is
assembly of components that produce and supply
electricity by the conversion of solar energy.

Photovoltaic conversion process produces Direct Current

(DC) as the energy outcomes with a large portion of
dissipated heat on the bottom surface of PV modules. An
FIGURE 2: Typical example of Agrivoltaics equivalent circuit of photovoltaic cells reflects a large area
growing system in France diode for DC generation. Issues of system inefficiency and
realistic phenomenon of voltage drop in charge carriers
between semiconductor junctions have flourished
considerable amount of research work for the advancement of solar cell circuitry. Blocking and bypass diodes are
used extensively as cell parallel integration in the construction of PV modules to resolve issues of partial shading, hot-
spots and internal losses [4, 5]. Electricity generation is one of the biggest energy sectors that is heavily dependent on
fossil fuels as the main supply and this contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gas (GHG). Malaysia
which is located near the equator naturally has abundant of sunshine which receives solar radiation for approximately
6 hours of good sunlight.

Malaysian Standard MS 1784-8:2009 [6] on the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) defines herb as any parts including
crude plant material such as leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, stems, wood, bark, roots, rhizomes or other plant parts, which
may be entire, fragmented or powdered. Herbs also cover medicinal and aromatic plants which have good potential
of virtually untapped reservoir of bioactive chemical compounds with many potential applications in pharmaceuticals
and agrochemicals. Malaysia has been actively promoting the adaptation of PV technology as an alternative energy
mix with agri-based activities. Nevertheless, there is limited study on the potential risk of pests which would evolve
under the agrivoltaic condition. This study provides some insights of tropical field assessments of potential pests
attacking Misai Kucing herbal crops under PV array structure especially during the monsoon season.

AGRIVOLTAIC SITE SETUP AND ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

Six arrays of Monocrystalline PV module are connected in series to produce approximately 10 kWp system with
multiple PV inverters as shown in Figure 2. The plants are arranged at full density occupying the whole area
underneath PV arrays. The condition at Agrivoltaics site is shown in the graph where the trend for Air Humidity (RH)
and surrounding temperature (Ta) at 3 feet level under PV array are plotted. The recorded data is sampling for 5
continuous day in 1-minute intervals. The location of test site is at the Renewable Energy Research Office (RERO),
Faculty of Engineering UPM Serdang, Malaysia.

RH and Ta for Agrivoltaic condition

100 40
Humidity (% RH)

80
Temp (Deg C)

30
60
20
40
RH 10
20
 FIGURE 2: Agrivoltaisc setup for ground-mounted PV system with RH and Ta trend at site.

PESTS IDENTIFICATION AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES

The Misai Kucing plant has 4 cycle harvest per year with maturity period of 3 months. Based on field observation as
shown in Figure 3, pest has been found attacking the plant during the first cycle of maturity stage (after 3 months
seedlings deposition under PV array). The impact is very much severe where the middle part of a dense seedlings can
be seen totally distorted especially the tip of young shoots.

Pest attack by lace bug Cochlochila bullita Stål (Heteroptera: Tingidae) was first recorded in Malaysia in 2010 (Peng
et al., 2014) [7] with severe damage especially during dry season [8]. Furthermore, Giliomee, (2014) [9] reported the
lace bug Cochlochila bullita is a major pest on rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) in home gardens in Stellenbosch,
Western Cape Province. In India, C. bullita has been reported attacking Ocimum kilmandscharicum and Ocimum
sanctum (Palaniswami and Pillai, 1983) [10,12] and in Thailand C. bullita is a major pest of Ocimum basilicum
(Tigvattnanont, 1989) [11]. The pests will damage the young leaves and shoots of the O. aristatus by piercing and
sucking the liquid in the leaves. This causes the leaves to become curling and drying, leaf dehiscence and decrease in
inflorescence production [9-11]. This adverse effect to plant is also supported by Sajap and Peng (2010) [8] where
from field observation, the adult lace bugs usually feed on tender shoots of the herb causing them to wilt and eventually
die.

FIGURE 3: Lace Bug attack on Misai Kucing herbs under PV array condition.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The sampling method is based on 10 units of infected stem/shoot as shown in Figure 4 with stick trap for capturing
the Lace Bug pest. It is observed that pests emerged due to the wet and humid condition in tropical climate, despite
the dissipated heat during energy conversion of the solar PV. During 24 hours monitoring (as per Figure 2), moderate
humidity level (max value: 89.4%, average value:70.4%) with relatively moderate ambient temperature, Ta at the
shoot plant level (max value: 36.50C, average value: 27.40C) increases water evaporation process at site with PV
shading features. Thus, may attracted the Lace Bug for the best living condition.

FIGURE 4: Sampling method and common pest trap for identification.

Normal method of pesticide spray (active ingredient: chlorpyrifos) are used for twice a day in the morning and late
evening for mitigation of the pest where within 2 days of treatment, new shoots have been observed. Understanding
of life history, host plant, damage and control method of C. bullita on O. aristatus were reported [7]. Despite its
common occurrence and wide distribution, C. bullita has not been recorded as a pest on O. aristatus planting in
Agrivoltaic farms cultivation until recently. Preventive measures should be taken to prevent the spread of the lace bug,
C. bullita. Plants should be monitored daily during wet season for the presence of lace bugs. To control the lace bug,
C. bullita attacks through the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) [13,14] concept with the use of cultural control,
mechanical control, biological control and use of selective chemical pesticides. The damage it caused to O. aristatus
in Agrivoltaic farms cultivation shows that it has a potential of also becoming a serious risk on these herbs in Malaysia.

CONCLUSION

This paper shares some field observation on the risk of pest attack on Misai Kucing herbs planted directly
underneath Solar Photovoltaic Array as to suit with Agrivoltaics conditions. Generally known that PV dissipates heat
energy (average temperature of during DC conversion process which eventually prevent pests. High humidity level
due to improper drainage, wet season and other site factors has made lace bug prone to the agrivoltaic condition and
attack the plant. The impact and severe damage cause by this attack is costly when the plantation area is wide. Thus,
planters who wish to utilise the agrivoltaics condition should consider proper pest management system to suit with the
hot and humid ground conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors delegate our thanks to the Research Management Centre (RMC), Universiti Putra Malaysia for the
approval of research funding under the IPS Putra Grants Scheme (Vote no. 9667400)

REFERENCES
 [1] Othman, N. F., Ya'acob, M. E., Abdul-Rahim, A. S., Othman, M. S., Radzi, M. A. M., Hizam, H., ... & Jaafar, H. Z. E. (2015).
Embracing new agriculture commodity through integration of Java Tea as high Value Herbal crops in solar PV farms. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 91, 71-77.
[2] Dinesh, H., & Pearce, J. M. (2016). The potential of agrivoltaic systems. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54, 299-
308.
[3] Dupraz, C., Marrou, H., Talbot, G., Dufour, L., Nogier, A., & Ferard, Y. (2011). Combining solar photovoltaic panels and food
crops for optimising land use: towards new agrivoltaic schemes. Renewable energy, 36(10), 2725-2732.
[4] Brano, V. L., Orioli, A., & Ciulla, G. (2012). On the experimental validation of an improved five-parameter model for silicon
photovoltaic modules. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 105, 27-39.
[5] Katsumata, N., Nakada, Y., Minemoto, T., & Takakura, H. (2011). Estimation of irradiance and outdoor performance of
photovoltaic modules by meteorological data. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 95(1), 199-202.
[6] https://law.resource.org/pub/my/ibr/ms.1784.8.2009.pdf
[7] Peng, T.L., A. S. Sajap., L. H. Jeen, L.S. Hua and L.W. Chen., 2014. Occurrence of Cochlochila bullita Stal in Malaysia.
Serangga 19(2): 67-76
[8] Sajap, A.S and Peng, T.L 2010. The lace bug Cochlochila bullita (Stål) (Heteroptera: Tingidae), an important pest of
Orthosiphon aristatus Bentham (Laminales: Lamiaceae) in Malaysia. Insecta Mundi 0136: 1-5.
[9] Giliomee, J.H. 2014. First record of the lace bug Cochlochila bullita (Hemiptera: Tingidae) as a pest of rosemary in South
Africa. African Entomology 22(3): 670-672
[10] Palaniswami, M.S. and K.S. Pillai, 1983. Biology of Cochlochila bullita S., a pest on Chinese potato. Journal of Root Crops
9:59-62
[11] Tigvattnanont, S. 1989. Studies on the bionomics and local distribution of some lace bugs in Thailand: I. Monanthia
globulifera (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Khon Kaen Agriculture Journal 18:200-212
[12] Mohanasundaram, M., and P.V.S. Rao. 1973. A note on Cochlochila bullita Horvath (Tingidae : Heteroptera) as part of
Coleus parviflorus, a tuber crop in Tamilnaidu. Indian Journal of Entomology 35: 346
[13] Kogan, M. (1998). Integrated pest management: historical perspectives and contemporary developments. Annual review of
entomology, 43(1), 243-270.
[14] Elliott, N. C., Farrell, J. A., Gutierrez, A. P., van Lenteren, J. C., Walton, M. P., & Wratten, S. (1995). Integrated pest
management. Springer Science & Business Media.

View publication stats