Faculty of Biology UGM has socialised horticulture plants such as pumpkin and longan among farmers of Kebondalem hamlet, Madurejo village, on 26 May 2018.
Dean of Faculty of Biology UGM, Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc., said Indonesia has high biodiversity which includes squash or pumpkin from Cucurbitaceae family. The plant has high potential as food resource. Budi said horticulture development needs to be done to resolve the long term food crisis due to the high population increase in the country.
Along with colleague Dr. Purnomo M. S., Budi gave training to resolve food problems and make a breakthrough to produce agricultural commodity and make products of excellence from the village.
Budi announced his research outcomes on pumpkin silviculture using castrated pollination technology. Meanwhile, Purnomo described the type and characteristics of pumpkin according to its morphology.
Budi said the pumpkin is very suitable to be grown in Madurejo and it has large market target. It can sell as high as Rp70 thousand per kilogram while a tree of pumpkin may generate between 3-4 kg.
The event was welcomed positively by the farmers. A farmer, Romli Jihan, expressed his enthusiasm to develop the crop. “We are very interested in this event. We hope to be able to cultivate the plant ourselves using the knowledge that we have learned here,” he said.
Longan Super Sleman Cultivation
Furthermore, Faculty of Biology UGM gave a training to farmers in Kemadang village, Gunung Kidul regency on the ripening technique of Super Sleman longan fruit on 24 May 2018. This was part of a series of grants events for Village Mentoring programme under the guidance of Community Service Directorate of Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Longan Super Sleman type is a product of excellence in the project undertaken to make the Kemadang village an agro-maritime based village. The type of plant will yield fruit in 1.5 years, plantable in pots, while not depending on season. The fruit is also very sweet with thick pulp and small seeds.
Dozens of people attended the event that presented resource persons, Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc , Dr. Purnomo, M.S., and Yusuf Sulaiman, S.I.P.
The grant programme led by Soenarwan Hery Poerwanto., S.Si., M.Kes., was welcomed enthusiastically by the farmers. Later, they tried to practice the ripening technology of longan fruit.
“Through this training, the farmers are expected to know firsthand the right technique that in the future can support the economy of the local people by establishing the agro-maritime based village of Kemadang,” he said.