Students of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) make a pesticide exterminator from coconut shell waste.
Coconut shell waste was deliberately chosen as the main material because Sutojayan Village, Blitar Regency is an area with extensive agricultural land and an abundance of coconut trees.
Coconut shell waste in Sutojayan Village reaches 15 tons per year. However, some people only use it for handicrafts, limestone fuel, and the rest is thrown into the TPA.
“In fact, coconut shells contain lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and carbon sources, which can be used as raw material for making liquid smoke,” said a team representative, Wakhidatul Fitriyah.
To provide an understanding of the making of liquid smoke, Wakhidatul and her four friends Maulana A’inul Yaqin, Bakti Pertiwi Purnama Sari, Yohana Christine Tiurma Manurung, and Muhammad Usman Sihab, conducted a socialization and training program in stages through online media to deal with the problem of organic waste, especially coconut shells in Sutojayan Village.
The training program called LIKE-TOK, aims to provide education and assistance to the community in the production of liquid smoke and by-products in the form of briquettes to improve and empower community welfare. In addition, the LIKE-TOK program can create independent farmer groups.
During the socialization, the LIKE-TOK team explained how to make liquid pesticides made from dry coconut shells.
“The process is carried out by pyrolysis apparatus. With this tool, the burning process of coconut shells will be carried out at a temperature of approximately 400 degrees Celsius for 3-6 hours. After the combustion process, steam distillation occurs and a condensation process occurs then liquid smoke is formed. This liquid smoke will later be used for pesticide, “said Wahidatul.
She added, the LIKE-TOK program will be continued and will continue to be developed to achieve increased welfare and reduce the waste problem in Sutojayan Village.
“Through this program, LIKE-TOK can reduce coconut shell waste by 98.8% every month,” said the 2017 batch student.
Besides being able to reduce environmental pollution, liquid smoke from coconut shells can empower and improve the economy of the people of Sutojayan Village by selling liquid smoke pesticides and carbon fertilizers for Rp 5,519,900 per month.
The plan for the next stage of the LIKE-TOK program is to make online sales using e-commerce to reach a wider market, as well as collaborating with agricultural sales shops and related government agencies. [WHD / Humas UB/ Trans. Iir].
