The Department of Pests and Plant Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University (HPT FPUB) together with Abinaya Millennial Farmers Group held a Farm Field Day (FFD) in Sumber Brantas, Bumiaji District, Batu City, Thursday (19/10/2023). This FFD is the culmination of the implementation of the community service program of FPUB HPT Department together with the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) and the Plant Protection UPT of East Java Province in the form of a Field School for Integrated Pest and Disease Management (SL-PHT) on box/ white mustard plants to Abinaya Millennial Farmers Group. This activity has been started since July-October 2023. This FFD activity aims to present the results of SL-IPM activities on box/white mustard greens and develop a follow-up plan for the millennial farmer empowerment program in Sumber Brantas area, Batu City.
The FFD activity was attended by officials from the East Java Province Agriculture and Food Security Service, Batu City Agriculture and Food Security Service Officials, POPT throughout Malang Raya, the Head of Bumiaji District, Sumber Brantas Village Officials and all Farmer Groups in Sumber Brantas. This activity is a forum for friendship for policy makers in the agricultural sector.
Head of Batu City Agriculture and Resilience Service, Heru Yulianto, in his speech said that this activity was very useful for initiating young people to become successors in agricultural development by facilitating them to become millennial farmers because currently young people are reluctant to pursue agriculture.
“I hope that with this SL PHT activity, young people, through academic assistance, will become interested in the world of agriculture, thereby opening their minds to the fact that the world of agriculture is not as they imagined with the help of technology and new discoveries. Agricultural development activities using new technology and findings in agriculture, especially for millennial farmers, must continue to be developed and expanded so that agriculture can continue to be sustainable,” he added.
Chairman of the East Java Provincial Plant Protection UPT, Puji Sanyata, added that East Java Province plays an important role in the efforts of the national food security program as proven by the many commodities produced by East Java Agriculture which are ranked first in production on a national scale, and appreciates this activity and is very grateful, especially to the team. HPT FP UB and POPT Bumiaji region which have successfully implemented SL-PHT to improve the quality of harvests by reducing the use of pesticides.
In this activity, Abinaya Farmers Group explained the results of their training and practice during SL-PHT activities. These include success in managing cheaper agroecosystems and obtaining higher box mustard production yields. In addition, they exhibited products resulting from SL-IPM activities in the form of healthy seeds, compost, liquid organic fertilizer, mycorrhiza, vegetable pesticides, liquid silica and agricultural processed products.
This event is also a means of transferring information on environmentally friendly agricultural technology as well as an important step in efforts to increase agricultural productivity, especially in terms of managing pests and diseases which often become serious challenges in agricultural businesses in Sumber Brantas area, especially in the cultivation of box mustard greens.
This field school will provide in-depth insight into various strategies and techniques that can be used to manage pests and diseases effectively, while maintaining the environment and farmer’s health and changing farmer behavior to reduce the use of synthetic chemical products. Collaboration between policy makers will bring long-term benefits to the agricultural sector, and will help farmers achieve better results in agricultural businesses. (zma/OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir)
