Hutanamale Village, located in Sorik Merapi Sub-district, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra Province, is one of the centers for the production of horticulture products, including potatoes, red chilies, tomatoes, cabbage, mustard greens, celery, and plantation crops (Arabica coffee and rubber). However, limited knowledge, a lack of funding for farmers, and the usage of chemical compounds to manage horticulture crop pests all seem to be habits that must be changed.

Because of this, USU lecturers participated in Community Service to create the proper Integrated Pest Management (IPM), make safe vegetable pesticides for the environment, and initiate agro-tourism. The community service program uses survey methods, socializing, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), training in the production of vegetable insecticides, and innovative applications, such as constructing shielding and protective equipment for horticulture crop pests. The goal of this service activity is to develop farmers and farmer groups in partner villages, to understand the potential of natural resources in agriculture, and to be able to process them appropriately.

In the village at the base of Mount Sorik Merapi, vegetables, fruits, and coffee grow well. Agriculture is a source of revenue for the people; cultivating potatoes, tomatoes, and red chili peppers is a regular source of money for them. Potatoes are members of the Solanaceae family of vegetables. The Madina potato is a regional crop that is well-known in the community. Potatoes, tomatoes, and red chilies are grown and consumed because they include vitamins (A, B, and C), minerals, carbs, proteins, fiber, and lipids that benefit people's health. Like many other kinds of vegetables, red chilies, tomatoes, and potatoes go bad quickly, need to be more durable, rot soon, and are watery. This perishable character is due to the delicate leaves and high water content, which pests/diseases can penetrate.

Spodoptera litura, Aphis sp., Plutella xylostella, Liriomyza sp., Thrips palmi, Myzus persicae, Bactrocera dorsalis, Potato cyst nematode, and Plutellidae are potato, tomato, and red pepper caterpillar pests. In the lack of control methods, insect damage to potatoes, tomatoes, and red chilies may rise, resulting in lower yields in both number and quality. The pest can be so severe that the potato plants do not form crops, and the harvest fails. Pest infestations can reduce potato yields by up to 90%. Together with the heartworm Crocidolomia Pavonana, the leaf caterpillar S.litura or P.xylostella can inflict severe damage and lower potato output by 79.81 percent. As potato farmers, this condition is undoubtedly damaging. Mandailing Natal offers public baths sourced from the Sorik Merapi Geothermal, which contain sulfur and are helpful to health. They can be exploited as ecologically friendly ecotourism.

Therefore, pests and diseases of potatoes, tomatoes, and red chilies need to be controlled to prevent and reduce losses caused by pest attacks. Insecticides, or chemical pesticides developed from synthetic compounds that eradicate insect pests, have been regarded as a rescuer and a hereditary tradition that creates adverse effects, disrupts health, and is damaging to the preservation of agricultural ecosystems.

Several conventional chemical pesticide groups, such as the organophosphate group, are the most commonly employed pesticides by potato, tomato, and red pepper farmers, followed by carbamates and synthetic pyrethroids. This class of pesticides generates pest resistance, environmental degradation, and a threat to agricultural productivity. As pests become increasingly resistant to pesticides, the amount and dosage of pesticides required will rise, affecting production costs. In the end, this isn't nice for farmers. Therefore, alternatives to pesticides have been created that are comparatively cheap and safer for the environment. Using a paranet as a permanent shade and protection from insect assaults on horticultural crops is one of them.

Farmers have long utilized vegetable insecticides derived from papaya leaves, neem, goatweed, garlic, cayenne pepper decoction, tobacco, and other plants. Vegetable pesticide development has several advantages, including being environmentally friendly, cheap, and simple to obtain, not poisoning plants, not causing pest resistance, containing nutrients required by plants, being compatible with other controls, and producing agricultural products free of pesticide residues. Citronellal eugenol, according to Atmadja (2010) and Azwana (2019), can suppress Spodoptera litura. Meanwhile, Helopeltis pests can be controlled with the persistence of clove oil and ten different medicinal and aromatic plants. According to this analysis, farmers must be provided with knowledge and abilities about vegetable pesticides and how to produce them. Thus, besides reducing production costs and improving agricultural output, using vegetable pesticides can help conserve the rural environment, ensuring the long-term viability of the farm production system.

The USU Community Service Team works with two partners, Kelompok Tani Bahagia Tanaman Holtikultura (1st year - 2022) and Kelompok Tani Kopi (2nd year - 2023), on counseling and training in the use of vegetable pesticides, paranet, and eco-friendly agroecotourism management. These two farmer groups are the primary focus of multi-year PKM initiatives. This is based on farmers' limited knowledge of eco-friendly pest treatment for horticulture crops in Hutanamale Village, Puncak Sorik Merapi. Farmers, in general, need to learn how to create and use vegetable insecticides. Also, land use has yet to be used to its full potential in horticulture, agrotourism, and plantation crops.

The goals and achievements that were successfully implemented in the first year of the Student Creativity Program (PKM) implementation (2022) were: designing the location and application of paranet on horticultural crops, making ecologically friendly vegetable pesticides from leftover rice water and three types of plants (papaya leaves, garlic, cayenne pepper) and leftover fruits at home, and ecotourism based on agricultural land for horticultural and coffee plants. In the second year (2023), the following accomplishments: commencing the development of the Poktan Kopi Arabika Sejahtera (KAS) in Sorik Merapi, establishing agro-ecotourism, coffee shops and their fruit and vegetable picking fields, and initiating the Sibanggor hot spring tourism site in Sorik Merapi.

During the PKM, farmers' knowledge of the germplasm and horticultural crops (red chili, tomatoes, potatoes, vegetables) and plantation crops (coffee) was found to be lacking. Similarly, horticultural farmers need better awareness and knowledge of pest control with vegetable pesticides, lack of innovation, permanent horticultural plant shade, and pest control techniques.

From June 2022 to November 2022, multi-year community service activities were done in Hutanamale Village, Sorik Merapi District, Mandailing Natal. One of the critical assets for implementing Multi-Year Community Service activities in the area is the partners' strong motivation to produce quality horticulture and coffee crops, in addition to limited land management and natural resources.

PPM Desa Binaan in Hutanamale Village, Sorik Merapi, Madina, identifies problems that affect the quantity and quality of horticultural crops, including partners' (Poktan Bahagia in Hutanamale Village, Sorik Merapi, Madina) lack of knowledge in overcoming pests and plant diseases using chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides). PPM also boosted farmer partners' understanding of physically (through paranet) and chemically (via vegetable pesticides) managing pests and plant diseases in horticultural crops. The program has also socialized the use of paranet to Poktan Bahagia in Hutanamale Village, Sorik Merapi, Madina, and vegetable pesticides. (RJ)