The Pending hamlet in the Sawangan sub-district, Magelang regency in Central Java is an area with agricultural potential. Unfortunately, the human resource there is still low due to their low education attainment.
Seeing this condition, four students of Animal Husbandry Sciences and Industry Study Program from Universitas Gadjah Mada were moved to help out. They are Yoga Pamungkas, Miftachul Huda, Yohanes Victor Sampurna, and Bagus Prayogo, all joined the Student Creativity Programme E-Live, which implemented the integrated farming system as the basis for modern farming development.
"Yes, we're trying to optimise the resources available there to make the people prosper," said Miftachul Huda at UGM on Friday (5/8).
Weeks of doing community service at the hamlet , said Mifthacul, the important thing to do is to educate the local farmers on modern farming, because integrated farming system is a system that forms a massive agroecosystem with high diversity, so it promises higher level of success in agricultural endeavours.
The UGM student team socialised the programme where they gave knowledge, direction, and motivation to the local people.
"We explained to them the making of organic fertilisers, pesticides and vegetable farming that is our main programme. Hopefully, the people will get the knowledge, theories and practice of efficient farming," he said.
"With this programme, the people may make use of the natural resources in the Pending area. They can turn the animal husbandry waste into organic fertilisers, thus reducing production costs. In the end they become independent, creative, and innovative," said Miftachul Huda.
To ensure the sustainability of the programme, the E-Live group established a farms organisation named as PENDEKAR (Pending Berkarya or Pending at Work).