Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) UGM officially handed over the management of aid programs from the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Biosystems (DTPB) to Selopamioro and Sriharjo Villages, Bantul on Monday (7/8) at the Selopamioro Village Hall.
These programs include climate change mitigation, an integrated household food management system, and the development of a knowledge management system. Apart from the program, FTP also manages several supporting technology programs, such as biogas, Safe Water Garden, and cooking equipment for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
This event was carried out by FTP after DTPB completed all of its community service programs in the two villages. The program has been implemented by DTPB since August 2018 in collaboration with the Yanmar Environmental Sustainability Support Association (YESSA) in three villages: the aforementioned villages and Srimartani Village.
The theme raised by DTPB in this community service project is “Knowledge Development for Agricultural Sustainability in Agropolitan Area for Community Welfare”. DTPB chose this theme because it acknowledged that the human aspect, especially knowledge, greatly influenced the successful application of technology. The targeted focus is not only on infrastructure, but also on aspects of human knowledge.
Prof. Dr. Lilik Sutiarso, the program implementation coordinator, said that the DTPB’s target is to benefit the communities of the three villages. “People already have their own local wisdom, we only maximize it with the knowledge of operating technology,” he said.
On the other hand, Lilik revealed that he, as the executor, also received significant benefits from the communities. This is because the local wisdom among the residents is a learning that cannot be obtained on campus.
“The residents here have a way of farming, knowing the climate, harvesting, and detecting pests on their own. Apart from providing knowledge about technology, we also learned their local wisdom earlier. And later on, we will process it into a knowledge dictionary that can be shared with the public,” he explained.
Therefore, Lilik hopes that this program can benefit various parties. “Residents will have awareness of access to technology, UGM will obtain local knowledge dictionaries from various regions, and the government will have a reference for distributing aid to villages. Thus, more people can feel the benefits,” he said.
Himawan Sajadti, Head of Selopamioro Village, expressed his gratitude to FTP UGM for providing great benefits to the village. He said that this program had helped lift the village economy, especially in the agricultural sector. This program, according to him, has also made citizens more aware of technology.
Himawan stated that the village is thinking of becoming more independent now. He said that the village now does not want only to be helped, but also to be able to help. Therefore, it is planning to develop its tourism sector. However, he admitted that he still did not know much about designing and marketing. “I hope UGM can help again, so that our village becomes more independent,” he concluded.
