Pemalang Regency – The Community Service (KKN) Team I of Diponegoro University for the 2022/2023 period were finally being deployed directly to the destination village. Previously, KKN activities were carried out around their respective hometowns to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Community Service Program (KKN) is a form of implementing community service as part of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education which has many benefits for students and the village community.
As many as 2,645 KKN students carried out the 2022/2023 Community Service programs in 10 (ten) districts in Central Java. Some of them were placed in Banyumudal village, one of the villages in Moga Sub-District, Pemalang Regency. Banyumudal Village has a lot of village potential, including in the agricultural, plantation, MSMEs, and livestock sectors. However, the village’s potential has not been optimally processed. This is indicated by the waste of goat manure which is immediately disposed of and not processed first. In addition, the problem of infertile agricultural land results in reduced agricultural productivity. Based on the survey results, this is due to the low knowledge and awareness of the community in the use and importance of livestock waste and how to process it. In response to this, KKN Undip students carried out mentoring activities in the utilization of goat farm waste into compost which aims to minimize village problems by optimizing their potential.
The assistance activities were carried out for goat breeders and farmers represented by the Simadu Jaya Women Farmers Group. Prior to the implementation of the activities, Undip KKN students conducted surveys and observations of goat breeders and farmers, prepared mentoring materials, and carried out mentoring activities to the target audience. In each activity, the community is directly involved as the purpose of this activity is community empowerment.
The mentoring activities were carried out on January 30, 2023 and February 5, 2023 at the KWT Simadu Jaya building, RT 009/ RW 007. The activities were carried out in 2 days, where the first day was presentation of mentoring material and the second day was practice and training in processing goat manure using a composter. On the first day, educational presentations were carried out regarding the advantages of waste collection, assistance related to mapping the distribution of medium-scale goat farm locations and also the distribution of marketing locations (agricultural land), education on how to make composters, education on making compost using composters, as well as assistance in marketing compost using social media.
On the second day, assistance activities were carried out in processing goat manure using the composter that had been made to assist in the marketing of compost fertilizer. In its implementation, each participant was very enthusiastic and active so that the event ran smoothly.
The result of this assistance is increased knowledge and awareness of the Banyumudal Village community regarding the potential utilization of goat manure into compost to increase agricultural productivity. Furthermore, KKN Undip students also submitted composter prototypes and modules related to mentoring materials in the hope that they could become a guide for the people of Banyumudal Village in developing the agricultural and livestock sectors. With this activity, it is hoped that the community will understand more about village potentials and problems, not only in agriculture and animal husbandry sectors, but also in other sectors.
