Come, See, Practice and I Can!

Follow-up group of NTT students

Human have thought and curiosity, so they will try to find out answers of questions bothering their mind until the answers are gained. Feeling of curiousity also covered the participants’ mind of Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta after Organic Farming training held on May 4-6, 2018, especially when they followed a session delivered by TO Suprapto, one of the facilitators explaining about an integrated agriculture system and the utilization of local materials for liquid fertilizer.

Filled with passion and strong motivation to learn, five students (originally from NTT) went to Godean, precisely to Joglo Tani owned by TO Suprapto to explore the process of liquid fertilizer on Wednesday, May 23, 2018. They are children of farmers actually, but they do not know how to make liquid fertilizer made from local material because they rarely use it as fertilizer. They hoped that they can apply the fertilizer when they return home. They are Bram (an agricultural student), Daniel (a student of governmental sciences), Chindy Rawambaku (a civil engineering student) and Elisabeth Uru Ndaya (an English Education student) from Sumba and Ikha (a Psychology student from Soe).

Activities in Joglo Tani was began from a visit to the liquid and solid fertilizer production. There, the participants discussed with Bowo, TO Suprapto’s younger brother, about rabbit's urine as an example of liquid fertilizer, as well as the practice of the students about some ingredients of liquid fertilizer, the measurement, until being ready to be fermented. They practiced to make it together with vocational students who were also studying there at the same time.

The ingredients of liquid fertilizer are 20 liters of cow urine, 2 kilograms of herbal substances called ‘empon-empon’, some otten fruits, 1 liter of molasses, 2 kgs guano kohe, gamal leaves and banana stems. The following is the way how to make it: ‘empon-empon’ are sliced ​​and boiled, after boiling, the ingredients are cooled and mixed with cow urine, molasses, rotten fruits, gamal leaves, and chopped banana stems. The mixture were put in a bucket and sealed for about two weeks for fermentation. After two weeks, the liquid fertilizer is completed and ready to use. If there is no cow urine, coconut water can be used instead, and mollases can be replaced with brown sugar. Liquid fertilizer is useful to increase soil nutrition because it contains organic nutrients to refresh plants. Other benefit of using ‘empon-empon’ is killing pests in the soil because it tends to heat.

Bram Mila, one of the participants said, "I got impression how to make the POC (Liquid Organic Fertilizer). It is very easy and cheap for the material, because all plants around us can be used as fertilizer or insecticide. Now I can make POC with turmeric and ginger, one kg for each".

It has been proven that learning process by coming, seeing, and practicing will make someone master better. Therefore, young people, let’s begin to recognize local materials in your area and use them to increase the production of community agriculture. (ELS).