Singaraja- Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) is not only concerned with improving the quality of education. But also in the agricultural sector which has enormous potential, especially in Buleleng Regency. This is demonstrated by training in the production of biofertilizers plus “biofarm” in collaboration with the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education and collaborating with academics from Muhammadyah University Malang, Prof. Dr. Ir. Indah Prihartini, M.P. The training which lasted one day targeted farmers in Jinengdalem Village, Buleleng Regency, which is the location of one of the Undiksha campuses.
Chancellor of Undiksha, Prof. Dr. I Nyoman Jampel, M.Pd said that Undiksha is ready to be present in the community to jointly answer problems, one of which is agriculture. He sees that currently, farmers in Buleleng Regency are not fully prosperous. Problems such as the water crisis, and pest attacks cannot be dismissed. “We want the agricultural sector to truly provide benefits to society. Undiksha is ready to work together on this. Especially with farmers in Jinengdalem,” he said.
Through this training, it is hoped that there will be an increase in understanding of farmers so that in the future they will get better results. “Now there are experts in the field of rice. Including organic fertilizer processing. We want farmers to be better,” he said. He also explained that Undiksha did not yet have an agricultural study program. However, there have been efforts to make this happen, one of which is through the development of tropical fruit plants, in the form of durian and longan covering an area of 3.5 hectares on the Jinengdalem campus land with seeds produced by the Bogor Agricultural Institute. “Hopefully next year Undiksha will already have an agricultural study program. This garden is a technology-based demonstration. Communities can learn together to develop it,” he added.
The head of the management of the Undiksha fruit garden, Prof. Dr. Ir. Ida Bagus Putu Arnyana, M.Si said the organic fertilizer processing training was also one of the efforts to reduce farmers’ operational costs, in addition to saving the environment from chemicals. “With the use of this organic fertilizer, farmers no longer buy chemical fertilizers. Farmers are also given an understanding of how to deal with pests in the right way,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Prof. Indah Prihartini explained that biofertilizers plus “bio farm” have a very good impact on agriculture. This innovative product can be used to clean up residue on land so that it is clean again. Besides that, it can also improve the physical, chemical, and biological quality of soil, function as a decomposer to make solid and liquid organic fertilizers and maintain plant health because it contains active compounds. “The materials to make this are all around us. But farmers are sometimes not aware of that,” she said.
Regarding the use of chemical fertilizers by farmers, according to him, it is still very high. This is also not followed by standard procedures, thus triggering damage to the soil very quickly. “Farmers sometimes don’t have the right dose, time, and purpose for using chemical fertilizers. These farmers only think about crop fertility, not soil. In fact, soil fertility must be considered first. This has an impact on plants,” he explained.
The training received a positive response from the farmers. One of them is I Made Budiasa. According to him, he gained a lot of knowledge regarding the manufacture of organic fertilizers and pesticides. “I am very interested in participating in this. Organic fertilizers can reduce the capital spent by farmers,” he said. He added, that the use of organic fertilizers is still being campaigned for because this not only has a positive impact on the soil but is also able to boost the selling price of crops. “Organic products are now quite in demand in the market,” he concluded. (hms)
