UNAIR NEWS – Dozens of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) teams succeeded in receiving funding in the 2021 Student Creativity Program (PKM) event. One of the PKM teams that passed was “Empowered Banjarejo: A Business Incubator for Cultivating Cob Mushrooms Based on Corn Cobs as a Form of Empowerment in Banjarejo Village, Lamongan Regency.”

The members of the PKM team are Ageng Santoso, Firman Hidayat, Phelia Hammam Munadhil, Muhammad Fahroji and Akmal. Ageng, as the team leader, said that they are happy and proud as they managed to get funding for their PKM.

Ageng explained that their PKM is categorized into the field of community service (PKM-PM). The core of the activities to be carried out, he continued, is the cultivation of cob mushrooms, where one of the basic ingredients needed is cob or corn cobs.

“Banjarejo Village is the largest corn producer in one of the Karangbinangun sub-districts, Lamongan. Based on the discussion with the village youth organization (Karang Taruna Desa), it is known that residents have not been able to maximize the available corn cobs,” he explained on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

Furthermore, Ageng revealed that the PKM activities do not stop at cultivating the cob mushroom, but the community will also be provided with information on how to market the products and what other products can be made from the cob mushroom. Hopefully, the village youth organization will be able to make a business from the cultivation of the cob mushroom.

Ageng and the team have met their partners (Karang Taruna Banjarejo Village) three times. At the first meeting, the team asked for permission to conduct the program and introduced it. The second meeting disseminated information about cob mushrooms including the ways to cultivate them, their potential of the village, and how the business incubator will be run.

“After the dissemination, the activity carried out at the third meeting was the implementation of the cob mushroom cultivation. The goal is to make the community immediately understand the knowledge that we (the PKM team, ed) have provided,” said the student of the Chemistry study program.

The partners’ lack of an active role was one of the obstacles for Ageng and the team in coordinating. Furthermore, they have made mistakes once in the process of cultivating cob mushrooms. However, these obstacles were overcome, so the growth of the cob mushrooms is no longer obstructed.

Finally, Ageng and the team hoped that the community could continue the cultivation of cob mushrooms in the future independently and be empowered to be a model for other villages. Moreover, they also want to advance to the National Student Scientific Week (PIMNAS) and win a gold medal.

“We hope to bring a good reputation of UNAIR to the PIMNAS event in the future,” concluded Ageng. (*)

Author: Dita Aulia Rahma

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia (YA/AP)