To maintain the role of livestock and to not disrupt the environment, three young lecturers from the Faculty of Animal Science (FAS) UGM empower Sido Mukti Farmer Group since February 2019 which is located in peri-urban area. The three lecturers are Muhsin Al Anas, S.Pt., Satyaguna Rakhmatullah, S.Pt., M.Sc., and Riyan Nugroho Aji, S.Pt., M.Sc.
“Livestock in peri-urban areas has a great potential to be developed. Aside from being a business to increase the economic value of the community, livestock in this area can be developed into a city farm for tourism,” Muhsin Al Anas said when met at the FAS UGM campus on Monday (11/3).
Muhsin added, the Mukti Sido farmer group consists of 19 people and is a sheep breeder. So far, farms in these groups are managed with traditional systems. Livestocks are kept only as commodities for savings. Farmers have not been business oriented to increase income.
“The empowerment program is expected to be a means for increasing knowledge and transferring technology to the group members so that the productivity of livestock can increase,” Riyan said as a lecturer at the Laboratory of Physiology and Reproduction of the FAS UGM.
Satyaguna explained, well-managed farms can reduce waste pollution to the environment. “For example, processing sheep manure into fertilizer and biogas can change the waste to have economic value. If it is managed seriously, livestock in peri-urban areas will not cause problems for the surrounding community,” said Satyaguna Rakhmatulloh as a lecturer at the Laboratory of Technology of Leather, Animal By-Products, and Waste at the FAS UGM campus.
This empowerment also received a positive response from members of the farmer group. Suwardi, one of the group members, said that the empowerment is expected to provide insight on how to improve breed farming and motivate farmers to be more active in raising livestock.
“In the future, Sido Mukti farmer group will be assisted in developing livestock for tourism through the city farm concept which can also be used as an educational facility in agriculture and livestock,” Muhsin concluded. (Nadia)