Fakultas Biologi Beri Pelatihan Tanam Anggrek In Vitro kepada Warga Banyunganti
Fakultas Biologi Beri Pelatihan Tanam Anggrek In Vitro kepada Warga Banyunganti
A team of lecturers and students from Biotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Biology UGM conducted training on in vitro orchid cultivation or plant tissue isolation method for the local community of Banyunganti Hamlet in Jatimulyo Village, Kulon Progo Regency. The training was held on Friday (27/10) in the hamlet’s Mudal River Ecotourism Park. It aimed to encourage and develop orchid cultivation skills of the community as an effort for educational tourism and orchids conservation in Kulon Progo.
This community service program is a sustainability program from Faculty of Biology to make Banyunganti Hamlet one of UGM assisted villages. Located in Menoreh mountaineous area, Banyunganti has natural condition which is ideal for orchids to naturally grow. Therefore, it is the right location to perform both in situ and ex-situ orchids conservation, also to prevent one of the Indonesia’s natural resources from extinction. Supported by the community who has environmental awareness, Mudal River Park has been developed into an ecotourism site that allows the sustainability of this program.
To the local community of Banyunganti, the team on Implementation Program of Education for Sustainable Development led Dr. Endang Semiarti, M.S., M.Sc., gave a set of entkas (an equipment made from glass for sterile workspace). Furthermore, the local community was trained on how to cross-breed the orchids, how to plant an orchid seed in a media by in vitro and how to overplant the orchid seed in a new media by in vitro.
“The community service program is expected to develop the interest of the local community in starting orchid cultivation business. Aside from enhancing the tourism value of the orchids demonstration plot in Mudal River Park, this business is also expected to increase the income of the local community,” said Endang on Thursday (2/11).