UNS — A team of Community Services from the Research Group (RG) Komunikasi Pertanian (Agricultural Communication) Faculty of Agriculture (FP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a training on chilli cultivation in drylands in Cabeyan Village Hall, Tawangsari Sub-District, Sukoharjo District. The training was held as an effort to increase farmer’s income through the cultivation of chilli in drylands.
The Chief of the committee, Dr. Dwiningtyas Padmaningrum, S.P., M.Si. stated that this training is in the form of adding knowledge and skills of Sido Luhur Farmer Group and dan Puteri Tani Mandiri Women Farmers Group members, particularly in cultivating chilli in drylands, starting from the seeding process, tillage, to harvest and marketing. The community service event held in June 2020 is not limited to the training for cultivation but also accompanied with assistance in chilli cultivation. “The team provided a demonstration plot as an example of the implementation of chilli cultivation technology for farmers by involving farmers in direct practice. Besides that, participants also got chilli seeds and fertilizer to be used in their lands,” Dr. Dwiningtyas explained, Monday (9/11/2020).
The event that was joined by 25 participants was opened with an explanation on the opportunity of chilli agribusiness in the drylands. The challenge of this business is managing the drylands using appropriate technology. Participants were also provided with the knowledge in cultivation and management of group business. The event was followed by technical training for chilli cultivation. Dr. Dwiningtyas stated that the combination between low farmer’s experience in cultivating chilli and the high opportunity for chilli market encourages her team to conduct the training which aims to improve farmer’s skills. “Moreover, this training was held amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in which chilli cultivation can become an alternative to utilize people’s yard and make it into a more productive plot of lands,” Dr. Dwiningtyas mentioned. She added that this can become a source of fulfilling the needs of comestibles and even generate additional income.
The discussion during the training shows that farmers have high enthusiasm to gain more knowledge on chilli cultivation. After this training, they will get assistance from the team as an effort to monitor their development and challenges experienced by farmers in starting chilli cultivation. The training is expected to awaken and increase farmer’s motivation to cultivate chilli as an alternative to utilize paddy’s field in the dry season.
The village chief of Cabeyan Village, Sugiyono conveyed his gratitude for RG Team from FP UNS who has chosen his village as the target of the community service program. “We are from the village government are very grateful for UNS Team who have provided training to support farmers in developing their business and utilized lands in this village which mostly are drylands,” Sugiyono explained. Humas UNS
Reporter: Dwi Hastuti
