UNS — The Faculty of Agriculture (FP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta student won another achievement in the Indonesian Student Entrepreneurship Activity (KBMI) 2021. Through the Biotrico Team, five FP UNS students passed the selection and received KBMI funding of IDR 12 million. These students are Suko Irawan, Intan Larasati, Tagam, Siti Zamzawiyah, and Utari Dwi Satiti.
Suko Irawan, as the team leader, stated that his team had proposed their idea in the Indonesian Student Entrepreneurship Program (PKMI) 2021, which was then also proposed to KBMI 2021. The business they proposed in Biotrico Organic Fertilizer Enriched with Biologic Component to Improve Holistic Crop Productivity. “The organic composition is from leaf litters,” Suko Irwan explained to the uns.ac.id team on Saturday (10/7/2021).
Suko added that they do not have unique criteria for the types of leaves, but his team always makes sure that the organic component contains a low ratio of Carbon (C) or Nitrogen (N) (below 20). This ratio is vital as it will affect the production time.
“The focus of our product is to control soil-transmitted pathogens because these pathogens are dangerous for plants and could cause crop failure. To control these pathogens, we use a biological agent, Trichoderma sp,” Suko explained.
He also explained that soil-transmitted pathogens could cause various diseases such as root and leaves rot, which is very dangerous for vegetables as it could lead to crop failure. Using the knowledge they learn from the university, the team realized that they need to develop the agricultural industry in Indonesia through agricultural innovation.
“Through this product, we hope to solve a problem that often faced by our farmers, the soil-transmitted pathogens,” Suko said.
Even though their current production was hampered by Covid-19 limitation, the Biotrico team tried to continue their production process which is centered in FP UNS House of Compost. Biotrico is only one among five teams that received similar funding from KBMI 2021. The other groups are Etlo.Id, Galaxy Pengetahuan, Omah Sinau, Sambal Serbaguna Dimasakin Uti, and Zenfa Studio (Solution and Innovation for Photography Product from MSMEs). All of these teams, including Biotrico, are preparing for the National Expo for their products. Humas UNS
Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti