Two professors from the Faculty of Agriculture held a community service activity themed “Connecting Feelings on the Application of Conservation Agriculture in Potato Planting” in Batu City to introduce and discuss conservation agriculture practices as a solution to increase productivity while preserving the environment.
This activity was guided by Prof. Didik Suprayogo and Prof. Sri Rahayu Utami and attended by 20 local potato farmers in Batu City.
This activity began with a field visit guided by Azizatul Fajriyah, a Masters student in Soil and Water Management at FP UB, who demonstrated real practices of conservation agriculture in potato fields. Farmers are invited to understand directly how this technique is applied and the benefits it produces. Farmers in understanding conservation agriculture are also assisted by two FP UB undergraduate students, namely Galih Firdausi Hidayatullah and Adie Kharismatul Faj’ria, and two FTP undergraduate students, namely Muhammad Akmal Dias and Zidane Algifari Salsabiilah Afandi. The technical implementation of conservation agriculture is also supported by Awang Satya Kusuma, S.Kom who is the PLP of the Soil Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture UB.
Prof. Didik Suprayogo in his presentation explained the challenges faced in cultivating potatoes on dry land.
He said that one of the main causes of soil degradation in potato plantations is the condition of the open soil at the beginning of the planting season until the potato plants are one month old, especially during the rainy season.
“This condition causes around 70% of the total soil erosion to occur during this period, which results in the loss of soil material, organic matter, and nutrients carried by erosion. The impact is felt downstream in the form of sedimentation in the river water system,” said Prof. Didik.
As a solution, Prof. Didik suggested the implementation of conservation agriculture with three main keys, namely minimizing soil disturbance (soil cultivation), covering the soil with biogeotextiles, and rotating or increasing plant diversity. Through conservation agriculture practices compared to conventional agriculture practices, significant results were obtained in the form of a decrease in soil erosion by 67% and an increase in potato tuber production by 55%.
Meanwhile, Prof. Sri Rahayu Utami also emphasized the benefits of using biogeotextiles in conservation agriculture practices. Biogeotextiles can control erosion, maintain organic matter and soil fertility, improve soil ecosystems, add soil nutrients, control soil temperature fluctuations, and maintain groundwater availability.
In addition, land that uses biogeotextiles is proven to be cleaner from weeds. Prof. Sri Rahayu Utami also explained that the use of biogeotextiles can improve soil fertility and reduce the loss of soil nutrients through surface runoff and soil erosion.
The farmers who attended this activity were very enthusiastic about the information and knowledge provided. They hope that this method can be applied more widely and sustainably to increase agricultural yields while maintaining environmental sustainability.
In this workshop, in addition to farmers gaining knowledge of conservation agriculture, they were given the opportunity to convey the challenges faced in potato cultivation and practical experiences and simple technologies that they have developed to cultivate potatoes.
“In order for potato tubers to grow well, the soil is simply “digged” deep with a hoe in the area around the roots while being mixed with manure before planting in the plant ridges, and there is no need to process it intensively,” said Mr. Rojiun, a potato farmer from Jurang Kuali.
This activity is expected to be the beginning of the transformation of agricultural practices in Batu City towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. (*/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
