26 September 2024
Syafrijal S.Kom
LANGKAT - The Community Service Institute of Universitas Sumatera Utara (LPM USU) conducted Community Service (PKM) in Lubuk Kasih Village, West Brandan District, Langkat Regency, Wednesday, September 18, 2024. In this community service activity, LPM USU conducted socialization about the importance of farmers gradually switching from using inorganic fertilizers to organic compost (PKO).
This is intended to increase harvest production, while reducing operational costs and maintaining the health of farmers and the environment. In supporting farmers to be able to provide PKO independently, the use of Smart Composter Technology is the solution offered by the Community Service Team.
The socialization activity, in addition to being attended by the head, coordinator, members, and students of the LPM USU Community Service Team for the Lubuk Kasih fostered village, was also attended by the village secretary, head of the farmer group, head of the PKK mothers' group, and the Head of Karang Taruna. The meeting took place in an atmosphere full of family and cooperation at the compost house location.
The Community Service Team coordinator revealed that with the implementation of the Smart Composter which is the result of collaborative research between Physics and Chemistry Study Program Lecturers for 3 years, the time needed for the composting process is much shorter and can speed up the composting process by up to 50%.
If the conventional method as has been applied by the community so far takes more than 40 days, now it only takes 20 days. "In addition, farmers are no longer busy having to monitor the progress of their composting process every day and the risk of failure can also be minimized," said Dr. Irwana Nainggolan, M.Sc.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Fostered Village Team, Dr. Tulus Ikhsan Nasution, S.Si, M.Sc who is the Head of the Physics Bachelor's Program, appealed to the community to play an active role together with the USU LPM Community Service Team in developing the Lubuk Kasih fostered village into a technology-literate village.
"The community should not ask what we will get, but ask what we can do to make this program a success," said Dr. Tulus Ikhsan, which was immediately greeted with enthusiastic applause from the audience who were very enthusiastic about welcoming this program.
Meanwhile, in his speech, the Head of Lubuk Kasih Village, represented by the Village Secretary Armansyah, expressed his deepest gratitude to the USU LPM Community Service Team for the presence of the team to carry out community service in their village. "Hopefully in the future our village can become a technological village, especially in agricultural activities,"
Armansyah also believes that with the implementation of this innovation, the problem of the scarcity of subsidized fertilizers and the price of inorganic fertilizers that continues to soar can be overcome through farmer independence. "In addition, we also hope that Lubuk Kasih Village can be cleaner, because organic waste can be managed into PKO," he concluded.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Pasir Putih Farmers Group of Lubuk Kasih Village, Ilyas, expressed his emotion over the selection of their village as the destination for the program implementation and the group's support to make the program offered by the USU LPM Community Service Team a success.
Also present at the event were members of the Team and students of the Physics Undergraduate Study Program who were involved in the community service program, including Anggia Rizkia Margolang, S.Si, M.Si, Winda Yola Yohana, S.Pd, M.Si, Lolo Ferdinan Siahaan, Rendy Ginting, Arnold Turnip, Aditya Rahman and Mia Stephany.
This activity provides new hope for farmers in Lubuk Kasih Village to achieve independence in the production of organic fertilizer, which is not only economically profitable but also environmentally friendly. Smart Composter Innovation is real proof that technology can be a friend of farmers in facing modern challenges in the agricultural sector
Source: https://sumutpos.co/pendidikan/22/09/2024/lpm-usu-sosialisasi-dan-serahkan-mesin-komposter-otomatis-hemat-energi-untuk-tingkatkan-kemandirian-petani-dalam-memproduksi-pko/
