Dr. Muhamad Sahlan, a lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering (FT) of Universitas Indonesia (UI), is a figure who has been actively promoting bee cultivation in the country to produce the best honey. He once developed original Indonesian propolis produced by stingless bees or trigona bees (tetragonula biroi aff), as an alternative treatment and prevention of the spread of the Corona Virus (COVID-19).
As a teacher, he diligently goes down to the community to share knowledge, especially on how to cultivate bees optimally, as he recently did. In this activity, FTUI collaborated with the Indonesian Beekeeping Association of DKI Jakarta and Talentani, holding an event themed “Strategi Sukses Bisnis Budidaya Lebah dan Produk Turunannya” (Successful Strategies for Bee Cultivation Business and Its Derivative Products).
Sahlan and his team, consisting of Dr. Safira Candra Asih; Dr. Apriliana Cahya Khayrani; and Dr. Kenny Lischer, provided educational materials and practical training on beekeeping and its derivative products. The speakers presented were experts in the field of beekeeping, including Akso Diana, S.Pt, M.Si from the Ministry of Agriculture who discussed the theory of honey bee cultivation. According to him, bee and honey cultivation businesses have great potential to be developed to increase the economic income of the community. Moreover, if the business is integrated with natural edu-tourism and has a more modern processing system, of course, it will have more value and increase sales.
Akso explained that integrating beekeeping with educational tourism requires an adequate site plan. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the availability of bee food with plants that flower all the time and have aesthetic value. “This will attract visitors such as xanthos flowers, bridal tears, sunflowers, and others. Moreover, if equipped with modern honey harvesting and post-harvest equipment, it can maintain the honey harvest so that its quality is maintained,” he said.
Another speaker, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business UI, Dr. Rambat Lupiyoadi explained the design and development of a sustainable honey bee business model to support the growth of the beekeeping business. He also gave a recommendation that beekeeping activities can be a promising alternative business because, from an environmental aspect, it can benefit the surrounding plants.
He said that the research results showed that the presence of bees can improve the quality and quantity of fruit. In addition, from a market perspective, honey consumption currently has great potential. This can be seen from the low local honey production while the demand is very high so there is still a gap. “Currently, to meet the need for honey imports, of course financially, the honey bee business will provide income and welfare for farmers and honey business actors,” said Dr. Rambat.
Next, Shofia Nurul Hakim, S.Pt. M.P. from the Ministry of Agriculture, discussed the downstreaming policy in supporting the added value and competitiveness of honey products and honey marketing in domestic and international markets. According to her, the role of the Ministry of Agriculture, especially the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (Ditjennak), in 2024 is to provide assistance in the form of tools and building renovations for farmer groups that manage beekeeping in several regions. This aims to increase the value of beekeeping business actors in Indonesia.
This activity received a positive response as seen from the enthusiasm of the participants from various institutions, including urban farmer groups fostered by the South Jakarta City Maritime, Agriculture, and Food Security Sub-agency, theDitjennak of Ministry of Agriculture, Islamic boarding schools, the Depok City Food and Agriculture Service, as well as independent participants from PT Malindo and several company retirees.
A total of 22 participants felt the benefits of the explanations given by Sahlan and other speakers. “I was lucky to attend because I gained new knowledge on the bee marketing business from one of the speakers,” said Hidayat, a retiree from PT Malindo, who is interested in the honey business. Another benefit was also felt by one of the participants, “I understand how to cultivate honey and its derivatives. So far I have been learning independently relying on YouTube,” said Isa Iskandar, an ustad at the Wadi Al-Barokah Islamic Boarding School, Ciherang Bogor.
This activity is a form of community service (pengmas) routinely carried out by UI through its lecturers. The FTUI Pengmas Team that went to the field came from the Department of Chemical Engineering, led by Dr. Muhamad Sahlan. “This Pengmas is part of the tri dharma of higher education where participants are given education about bee cultivation which produces products such as honey, propolis, Royal Jelly, Bee Bread, and Bee Toxin. Moreover, the advantages of original Indonesian propolis include preventing cancer and treating fungus and also other bee derivative products, such as bee venom which have a high selling value. In addition, this Pengmas also provides insight into business models that can be applied for the sustainability of businesses in the beekeeping sector,” said Dr. Muhamad Sahlan on the activity which took place on Saturday, July 27, 2024.
At the end of the community service activity, participants were given the opportunity to discuss and ask questions, thus providing space for participants to interact and gain deeper knowledge about beekeeping. “Many thanks to the UI Team and the Indonesian Beekeeping Association of DKI Jakarta for the assistance of bee seeds that were provided, hopefully, it will be useful for education at the Taman Agro Edu Wisata Ragunan (Ragunan Agro Edu Tourism Park),” said Banih, Ketua Kelompok Tani Kota (Head of the City Farmers Group), at the activity that took place at the Taman Agro Edu Wisata Ragunan.
