The Student Creativity Program (PKM) is a form of implementation of the Tridharma of Higher Education which was launched by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology under the management of Belmawa. This year, Brawijaya University (UB) became the university that successfully received funding for PKM 2023 with a total of 112 proposals. Teams that have passed the funding will then be prepared for the next stage, namely the national level competition, the 36th PIMNAS. One of UB PKM Team in Innovative Work field participated in creating a remote control shallot watering tool, they consisted of one supervisor and five students from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology. The five students are Sis Arif Setyo, Fahreza Hanafi, Doni Rizqi Setiawan, Fathinia Kamila, and Abida Ardelia and Joko Prasetyo, STP, M.Si as supervisor.
In the manufacturing process, this team conducted a survey of two lands located in East Java. The first inspection was carried out in Ngantang area, Malang Regency to measure the dimensions of the beds, while the second inspection was aimed at a larger area of land in Brebes area to carry out trials. Based on the team’s monitoring, farmers were still watering manually. Farmers have to water the shallots one by one and sometimes unevenly. The watering method used by shallot farmers became the background for the emergence of the innovative idea for shallot watering devices led by Sis Arif Setyo.
This team brought innovation to the problem of watering shallots and continued it with the PKM-KI scheme with the title “Innovation on an Arduino Uno Based Shallot Watering Machine with a Remote Control System to Facilitate Farmer Performance”. Automatic plant watering can be controlled at a distance, especially in increasing shallot production. This tool contains a water pump, microcontroller, and sprinkler pipe. Remote control will be a practical and easy tool for farmers to use to control plant watering from a distance. It is hoped that this tool can help farmers increase shallot productivity in a more efficient, modern and enjoyable way. [UB PR/Trans. Iir]
