The Community Service Team of the Postgraduate School of Universitas Brawijaya has held a socialization event on the use of natural spice-based probiotics to increase the productivity of milkfish ponds in Tambak Blandongan area, Bugul Kidul District, Pasuruan City. This event was held on Tuesday, (13/8/2024), with the main target of the socialization being the Jelak Milkfish Farmers Group. There were thirty farmers and several representatives of the Pasuruan City Fisheries Service who enthusiastically participated in the socialization activity.
This community service team is chaired by Dr. Ir. Hartati Kartikaningsih, M.Si, with members Dr. Ir. Sri Sudaryanti, MS, and Maharani Pertiwi K, S.Si., M. Biotech., Ph.D. In addition, this activity also involved three Masters students from the Postgraduate School.
“This activity aims to help milkfish farmers in particular, to solve their problems related to the decline in jelak milkfish production that has occurred in recent years. Efforts made to solve this problem are by introducing probiotics derived from spices,” said Dr. Ir. Hartati.
This socialization was carried out in response to the decline in jelak milkfish production that has occurred in recent years in Tambak Blandongan area. Based on data from the Pasuruan City Fisheries Service (2023), this decline in production was caused by declining water quality and rob flooding that had hit the pond area.
In an effort to improve the quality of pond water, the Postgraduate School Community Service team introduced natural probiotics made from spices such as ginger rhizome, white turmeric, and temulawak. These spices were chosen because of their high antioxidant content, which is believed to be able to increase pond water productivity and milkfish health.
These natural probiotics made from spices are then used by mixing them into pond water. The need for natural probiotics for a 1Ha pond area is estimated to reach 1000 Liters. Probiotics made from spices such as turmeric, ginger, and temulawak can improve the immune system of fish. The active ingredients in these spices, such as curcumin in turmeric, are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, which help fish to be more resistant to disease. In addition, improving water quality in fish farming is one of the important benefits of using spice-based probiotics. These probiotics work in a specific way to maintain the balance of microbes in the water, which in turn affects water quality parameters such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.
By holding this socialization, it is hoped that milkfish farmers in the Blandongan Traditional Pond area can apply natural spice-based probiotics sustainably, so that milkfish production can increase again and the quality of pond water is maintained.
The Postgraduate School community service team hopes that this innovation will not only be a short-term solution, but can also be a pilot model for other areas in an effort to increase fisheries productivity sustainably.(*/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
