UNS — Students of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta transform wood sawdust waste as fertilizer. This invention was initiated by a number of students through a Student Community Service Program (KKN) in Sarigunan Hamlet, Sragen. The majority of the population of Dusun Sarigunan work as furniture craftsmen, which leads to significant sawdust waste.
This fertilizer production is a form of innovation to utilize sawdust waste, which is usually sold as fuel at a price of Rp. 3,000/bag. Hanif Gustian as the coordinator of KKN Team 328, said that the sawdust waste fertilizer could also be used for various planting media for medicinal plants, agriculture, and ornamental flowers.
Even further, the students also provide training on ginger cultivation and red ginger powder production. This initiative is taken with the consideration that red ginger powder has a high selling value of Rp. 19,000/100 grams. Furthermore, by applying their scientific knowledge, they also provided training for dish soap production to the PKK in Sarigunan Hamlet.
“We are thrilled with this training because there has never been training like this before. Moreover, during the pandemic, most of PKK activities were suspended and only resumed this month. This training is very useful, especially for PKK women who spend a lot of time at home,” said Surani, a member of PKK in Sarigunan Hamlet (15/8/2021).
Dish soap making is relatively easy, which allows the PKK Sarigunan Hamlet women to implement the skills independently.
Hanif Gustian said that he and his friends hoped that the training would encourage and empower the community to improve their economy during this pandemic.
“We hope that the activities can be useful for the people of Sarigunan Hamlet. Furthermore, hopefully, it can also accelerate economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic because there is a lot of potentials that can be developed in this village,” said Hanif. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti