UNS — Proud achievement was accomplished by Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta students from a group of Soil Science Program students, Faculty of Agriculture (FP) UNS. The team won 1st place in the National Vlog Competition World Soil Day 2021. The team consisted of three members Farhan Erdaswin and Hanindyo Brasmtomo from the Class of 2019 and Roos Ananta D. K. from the Class of 2021.
The competition was held by the Soil Research Institute (Balittanah) and the Center for Literacy and Agricultural Land and Resources Development (BBSDLP) Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) to celebrate World Soil Day. The Vlog Competition took a theme of “Climate Change to Soil Quality.”
To uns.ac.id, Farhan Erdaswin explained that the vlog was inspired by the climate change issues that affect soil quality in Tawangmangu, Karanganyar District. Climate change that increases the average earth temperature leads to increased precipitation, sea surface temperature, and climate-related incidents, and extreme weather. The team observed declining quality of the soil marked by the degraded soil in the region.
The increased precipitation in the region also leads to landslides and the increase in land-use changes from perennial to annual plants. “What we observed then recorded in the vlog as an information media on the impact of climate change on soil quality, especially in Tawangmangu,” Farhan Erdaswin stated on Wednesday (29/12/2021).
In the vlog, the team explained soil quality criteria, including its capacity in maintaining plant productivity, maintaining water availability, and supporting human activities. Good soil quality will support its function as the media for plant growth and manage and distribute water currents while supporting the environmental function.
Soil degradation due to climate change is triggered by numerous factors such as declining soil physical condition and soil biological process due to erosion, compression, fracture, nutrient washing, acidification, salinity, and decreasing organic matters and biodiversity of soil biomes. The vlog also shared the sites of landslides in Tawangmangu.
The team stated that they were delighted with the result and to bring pride to their program at the national level. They also hoped that their vlog could improve people’s awareness to take care of the soil quality.
“The message we want to share in the video is that Tawamangu soil quality has degraded due to the climate change, so that we need to protect the soil from further degradation,” Farhan Erdaswin stated. Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga Pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti