UNAIR NEWS – Rainy season often brings a problem for fishermen, due to bad weather and the rising waves, fishermen cannot go to the sea. This problem has a major impact on fishermen’s income. Concerned with this problem, Universitas Airlangga students introduce hydroponics to fishermen of Dungkek Village, Sumenep Regency as a solution for the problem.
Citing the data from BPS of East Java, in 2017 and the number of poor people in Kab. Sumenep reached 211,920 people, or about 19.90% of the total population of 1.072 million people. Unemployment rate in 2017 was at 20.49% or was ranked 35th of 38 districts and cities of East Java.
A village which contributes to the percentage of unemployment and poverty in Sumenep regency is Dungkek Village, Dungkek Sub-district. Based on the alleged per capita expenditure, Dungkek Sub-district occupies the second lowest subdistrict from 27 subdistricts in Sumenep Regency. Unemployment and poverty index increased especially when the rainy season comes. The majority of people who work as fishermen, do not earn much because they cannot go sea fishing.
Looking at the problem, Arkan Fahrian Putra, Siti Khoiriyah, Laila Barokah, Sara Gratia, a student of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of Universitas Airlangga, introduced the technique of hydroponic gardening to Dungkek fishermen, for an alternative earning during the rainy season.
The devotion of the four students was stated in the proposal of Student Creativity Program of Community Service (PKM-M) and successfully qualified to get funding from Kemenristek Dikti. The proposal was titled “PENGENKEPO (Introduction to Hydroponic Gardening) in Dungkek Village Fishermen as Alternative Earning during the Rainy Season.“
“We hope hydroponic gardening can be a Dungkek fisherman’s solution, because it does not require extensive land and does not require soil as a planting medium. The period between seeding until harvest is also quite short. It does not use pesticide fertilizer so it is safe and healthy for consumption, “said Arkan Fahrian Putra, PKMM team leader.
This program is conducted through several activities with the target of 30 Dungkek fishermen representing the community there. The first stage was the introduction of hydroponic gardening and the garden development.
“We invited instructors from Surabaya Hydroponic Community represented by Mr. Yoso Susriarto, its chairman. Here participants are invited to practice making hydroponics garden. The second stage was harvesting, processing, and marketing of garden products. At this stage participants are taught how to process the results of the garden into processed cuisine to improve the value of the harvest, “added Arkan.
Seeing the spirit of fishermen learning gardening, the team PKMM UNAIR was optimistic that this activity could provide solutions to the problems faced by Dungkek fishermen. Community empowerment is done to achieve the program objectives, namely creating new business opportunities and alternative business when fishermen cannot go fishing in the sea. (*)
Editor: Bambang Bes
