PHP2D Team Farmers Clinic Unit Realizes Organic Robusta Coffee Agrotourism
[unsoed.ac.id, Sat, 04/09/21] Farmer Clinic Unit which is one of the UKM in the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman / Unsoed , carries out village community empowerment activities. The concrete activity carried out by the Farmer Clinic Unit UKM is through participation in a competitive grant for the Holistic Village Development and Empowerment Program (PHP2D) organized by the Directorate General of Learning and Student Affairs (Belmawa).
The PHP2D activity was carried out in Pesangkalan Village, Pagedongan District, Banjarnegara Regency. Pesangkalan Village has the potential of beautiful natural resources, one of which is being managed for tourism activities, namely Curug Pletuk. In addition, it also has superior agricultural commodities, namely organically cultivated robusta coffee, secondary crops, and cassava. But unfortunately, this potential has not been worked out optimally so that it has not had too much impact on the economy of the village community. This condition is due to the lack of knowledge and information of the local community regarding how to manage the village's potential as a source of community income. The PHP2D implementation team of the Farmer Clinic Unit offers several programs to combine the potential of nature, agriculture, and animal husbandry into integrated agricultural agrotourism.
The team was lead by Ilham Filsa Satria N (Agrotechnology 2019), consisting of 14 students, namely: Akmal Ryan M, Jeane Claudea T, Umi Kholilah, Rozaq Dwi N, Fahri Rezkiyandi, Dafa Garin N, Wahyu Darina, Ayub Pramana, Hardi Rahmat R, Andika Afurauf, Amelia Putri H, Dwi Wahyu, Aji Mulyo, and Revita Amalia.
Ilham Filsa Satria N stated that the PHP2D activity began with a Forum Group Discussion (FGD) which was held on August 7, 2021. The target partners of the activity are the 'Sido Makmur' Farmer's Group, the 'Simo Agung' Tourism Awareness Group and PKK women) Pesangkalan village officials, the Department of Communications and Informatics and the Department of Agriculture and the UKT PHP2D Team, along with Field Supervisor Okti Herliana SP., MP.
The next activity was carried out on Saturday, August 14, 2021, namely the socialization of social media management by resource person Arif Widodo Al Aziz, SE from the Banjarnegara Ministry of Communication and Informatics with participants from Pokdarwis Simo Agung, village officials, and students from the UKT PHP2D team. Then continued on Saturday, August 21, 2021 in the form of socialization and direct practice with residents related to organic farming. The event was held directly in Pesangkalan village, attended by resource persons from the Banjarnegara Regency Agriculture Office, Erwin Indriatmoko. SP who delivered material related to the Integration of Coffee and Livestock Cultivation in Integrated Agriculture. In addition, the field supervisor acts as a resource person to deliver material on making compost from agricultural waste and livestock manure and integrated control of coffee plant pests. "The PHP2D team provided examples and assistance in implementing the practice of making compost from litter and goat manure and making pheromone traps to reduce the attack of the Coffee Fruit Borer (PBKo)", he explained.
The PHP2D team gave a grant of 6 sheep and their cages to be maintained and their manure used as organic fertilizer from the activities. "The team targets the Sido Makmur Farmer Group to be able to improve the quality and quantity of robusta coffee products produced because farmers can independently seek organic agricultural inputs, improve Curug Pletuk tourism infrastructure and manage social media as a means of promotion. So that the hope of realizing integrated agro-tourism for coffee cultivation and goat farming can be fulfilled," said Ilham.
Community empowerment carried out by the PHP2D Team is expected to change the behavior of rural communities to be more open to technology processing organic coffee, increase community skills in managing agro-tourism areas to be more attractive by packaging the issue of "back to nature and sustainable agriculture" to increase the level of tourists visits and indirectly affect economic growth in Pesangkalan village. This activity was enthusiastically welcomed by the Village Head, Mr. Sarmin and the partners involved in this community empowerment activity.