UNAIR NEWS – Increasing national milk consumption can not be met by domestic milk production. This means that demand cannot be fulfilled by domestic production. This is one of the challenges for the government as well as the livestock industry.

This is partly due to the state of dairy farming in this country that has not met the standard criteria of livestock farming, in addition to the problem of erratic season, especially the dry season where temperature ranges from 18 to 38 ^o C.

This temperature causes heat stress to the dairy cows. For example Fries Holstein cows which then reduces the productivity of dairy cows.

Based on the problem, Zulfan Adzhar, Abi Farhan Ramadhan and Iollanstallza Simangunsong, students of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FKH) Universitas Airlangga successfully made a technological breakthrough through animal welfare based aerial fogging system that can support milk productivity in Indonesia.

Under the guidance of Hana Eliyani, M.Kes., Drh., A lecturer of FKH UNAIR, the students’ report entitled ” Animal Welfare  Based  Aerial Fogging System  on Dairy Farming to Support Milk Productivity in Indonesia”, passed the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education  selection and obtained development fund in PKM 2018. The three students’ creative work are included in Invention category (PKM-KC).

Explained by Zulfan Adzhar as leader of this PKM-KC team, the working principle of this aerial fogging system is to utilize the fog collected in jerrycans containing 1 liter of 98% alcohol. This alcohol works as additional cooling agent to minimize ozone damage by using evaporation principle.

This aerial fogging is used as an evaporator through arrangement on Control Aerial System with certain time duration. Fogger activation can be adjusted by timer or manually with valve rotation or by setting computer control system that has been installed room temperature sensor and compare it with stressing temperature of dairy cows.

“When the temperature sensors detect room temperature exceeds the standard dairy heat stress temperature, the microcontroller will be active and the water pump will work to channel mixing of water and 95% alcohol into aerial spraying,” said Zulfan.

“So the mix of water and alcohol will be sprayed to the cage area until the temperature of the cage adjusted with the standard cow heat stress that has been previously set, so the level of cow stress is expected to be reduced and the milk production is improved,” added Zulfan Adzhar. (*)

Editor: Bambang Bes