UNS — The Team 146 of Student Community Service Program (KKN) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, assist the resident of Blagung Hamlet, Teter Village, Simo, Boyolali, Jawa Tengah in adopting vertical culture technique for vegetable cultivation. This cultivation technique is chosen due to the limited house yard area according to one of the members of KKN Team, Florentina Vanda Gizella Narumalina. “Vertical culture is a agriculture technique implemented on vertical or leveled cultivation media, with specific vessel. This technique can be implemented in limited or narrow location,” explains Florentina Vanda on Friday (27/8/2021). The student of Physical Education, Health and Recreation Study Program (Penjaskesrek), Faculty of Sport (FKOR) UNS, states that using this culture technique the resident can implement an independent farming using limited spaces at their home.
With this technique, the resident do not need to take the seeds to the fields or gardens to plant them. “Aside from the limited area, this program aims to strengthen food security in the village,” said Florentina Vanda. Food security become one of the focus program of the Team 146, especially during the uncertain situation amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The team hopes for Simo resident to fulfill their food needs and if there is any excess of vegetable crop from this technique, the excess can be traded in the traditional market. “Why vegetable? Because vegetable is one of the daily needs. Through need program, hopefully the community can meet their household needs and can get additional income from vegetable harvest,” she added.
To start the vertical cultivation, there are some equipment needed such as pipe, hacksaw, gas torch, glass bottle, drill/soldering, ruler, and marker. Other than those equipment, the technique can be done by using recycled objects to match the condition and personal preference. “We can use used drinking bottle, used bottles of cooking oil, bamboo, or used sacks as a replacement for water pipe, as long as the media can be moved around easily,” explains Florentina Vanda. The preparation process can be done in group or individually.
Firstly, the pipe is marked to set the spacing of vegetable and maximizing the vegetable growth. To expand the diameter of the pipe, a heated pipe bottle can be used to achieve certain diameter size. The vegetable plant that suitable for this technique is mostly the type that has high economic values, has short roots, and has a fast harvest time, such as kale, mustard greens, lettuce, and spinach.
While assisting the community to implement vertical culture, the KKN Team also train them how to sow and plant vegetable seeds. Florentina Vanda explains that to sow the seeds, it must be soaked in water for more than 24 hours, to accelerate the breakdown of seed dormancy period. After soaked in water, the seed can be planted directly to a polybag for at least a week. Then afterward, it can be transfered to the cultivation media. She further added that the harvesting period for each vegetable plant is different, thus an adjustment is needed
Florentina hopes that the training can help the resident of Dukuh Blagung Desa Teter, Simo, Boyolali, to implement the vertical cultivation.
“We hope this program can be beneficial for the community and can be applied to their daily life, as well as improving their future,” she concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
