The Tropical Agroforestry Research Group (RG) of the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya conducted community service activities in Solok Regency, Padang, West Sumatra (05/17/2025). This activity is a dissemination of the results of two years of research which is a collaboration between Tropical Agroforestry RG UB with CO2Operate B.V (Netherlands) and Rimbo Pangan Lestari (RPL) of West Sumatra. In this activity, the RG Tropical Agroforestry Team of FP-UB, chaired by Prof. Kurniatun Hairiah, Ph.D., was accompanied by Lecturers from the Department of Soil, FP-UB, Dr. Danny Dwi Saputra, SP., M.Si, Dr. Rika Ratna Sari, SP., MP, Rizki Maulana Ishaq SP., MP, also representatives from ICRAF namely Prof. Meine van Noordwijk, and students of Masters program -PTA Leony Siska, SP and Nandha Ardiansyah, SP.
In her presentation Prof. Dr. Kurniatun Hairiah explained the role of litter on the soil surface in maintaining the population and function of earthworms.
She said that in an effort to reclaim reeds land, it is necessary to increase biodiversity both above and below the soil surface.
According to her, the role of trees and litter is increasingly in the spotlight. Not only as an aesthetic element or source of wood, trees also have an important ecological function in agricultural land.
“Litter is the favorite food of earthworms. If the food is varied, the worms are more active, and the soil becomes looser and healthier for plants. In addition, litter also helps reduce erosion and water runoff when it rains heavily. By covering the surface of the soil, litter functions as a natural protector that keeps the soil structure intact.
She added, through the natural interaction between trees, litter, and soil organisms such as earthworms, the agricultural system can become more environmentally friendly, the soil becomes healthy, resistant to climate change, and remains productive in the long term.
The Chairperson of the Rimbo Pangan Lestari Foundation, Ai Farida, in her speech realized that land management by farmers has been inappropriate. With this kind of learning activity among farmers, it is hoped that it can reduce the doubts and confusion faced by farmers in managing their land, which according to her is increasingly complex.
“With the many complaints from farmers today, I hope that this similar meeting can be held more often, for example once a year and will always committed to assisting farmers at all times so that farmers are better at maintaining their crops, managing their land and maintaining the sustainability of their environment,” he said.
The community service activity began with interactive knowledge transfer by conducting a pre-test first to find out and explore farmers’ initial knowledge. And the RG Tropical Agroforestry Team uses a participatory method so that farmers feel comfortable to speak up and convey their opinions or share experiences because farmers are invited to actively contribute and discuss in every process, so that the results achieved are more satisfying.
Furthermore, all community service participants were invited to a demonstration location where a mini-plot of observations regarding soil pores and erosion measurement simulation plots had been made. In this session, Danny Dwi Saputra and Nandha Ardiansyah shared knowledge and experience from research results with farmers about the benefits of litter and earthworms in maintaining porosity (pores) and soil infiltration as well as efforts to reduce surface runoff and erosion in agroforestry land. Continued interactively by Dr. Rika Ratna Sari and Rizki Maulana Ishaq about the selection of tree types by farmers and their benefits on agricultural land using poster media
This activity can be realized due to the financial support from the Community Service Grant, FP-UB and some of the support funds were also obtained from RPL-CO2Operates BV (Netherlands). Community service activities by Tropical Agroforestry RG FP-UB not only focus on direct assistance, but also on providing education and knowledge transfer so that positive impacts can be felt in the long term. In the future, Tropical Agroforestry RG FP-UB is committed to continue developing programs that empower and provide broad impacts.
In addition to being attended by the Chairperson of the Rimbo Pangan Lestari Foundation (NGO) Ai Farida, the activity was also attended by the Director of CO2Operate B.V from the Netherlands, Paul Burgers and 33 farmers from various Nagari, namely Nagari Sirukam, Selayo, and Paninggahan in Solok Regency, Padang, West Sumatra. (ZMA/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir)
