Fakultas Biologi Berikan Pelatihan Budidaya Kelengkeng Bagi Warga Gunungkidul
Fakultas Biologi Berikan Pelatihan Budidaya Kelengkeng Bagi Warga Gunungkidul
Dozens of residents of Kemadang village in Tanjungsari district, Gunungkidul regency, have joined training for cultivation of longan at Faculty of Biology UGM on 11 May 2017.
Dean of Faculty of Biology UGM, Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono,M.Agr.Sc., hoped that the local residents of Kemadang would be able to develop the “Super Sleman” longan, even making it as a product of excellence from the Gunungkidul regency.
“We hope the people of Kemadang can cultivate the Super Sleman longan well and make it a product of excellence from Gunungkidul,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Purnomo, M.S., lecturer from the Faculty said that longan has various characters and varieties. Generally, people cultivate diamond river, durian aromatic or dragon eye, itah, general, and crystalline varieties, and many more.
“Each of those varieties has its own superiority,” he said.
So is the Super Sleman variety that was developed by Yusuf Suleman, SIP, from Faculty of Biology UGM. The fruit is easy and simple for treatment, for example it is easy to get rid of weeds, twice water sprays daily, and fertilisation once a week.
“The challenge usually comes in the form of pest, which is butterfly and mantis,” said Yusuf.
Yusuf mentioned that in three years the Super Sleman longan would already produce yields. Harvest usually lasts three months. The Super Sleman longan has characteristics of thick and sweet fruit, in addition to its resistance to the seasons.
“Super Sleman longan knows no season, in the dry or rainy season it tastes just as sweet,” he said.
The training is an implementation of village grant programme. Led by Soenarwan Hery Poerwanto S.Si., M.Kes., it is welcomed positively by the local residents. They were enthusiastically discussing cultivation methods of this longan type.
Chief of farmer group from Kemadang, Suwarno, expressed his interest in cultivating this longan. He plans to grow Super Sleman longan on the karst hillsides of Kemadang.
“If the longan grows well here, we want to develop it further,” he said.