ENCOURAGING CHILDREN TO CONSUME VEGETABLES, BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY UI STUDENTS TAUGHT ORPHANAGE CHILDREN TO DO HYDROPONIC FARMING
Indonesian people still consume vegetables at a very low level. Apart from that, land for growing vegetables is also increasingly limited. This inspired students from the Student Association of the Department of Biology and Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Universitas Indonesia (UI) to carry out an agricultural education through a community service program, which they called Kukayur (an acronym for Aku Suka Sayur).
The head of the student association, Edwin Arga, said that through Kukayur activity which was given to the residents of Daarul Ma’wa Orphanage, Depok, West Java, they hoped that the children at the orphanage could understand how plants grow even though they do not use soil as a medium. They can also fulfill the need of healthy vegetables and avoid harmful substances.
This community service program involved 22 children from the orphanage to get to know vegetables more closely, to educate them about the contents and benefits of vegetables for the body, and to introduce the hydroponic farming method. The activity chaired by Firliani Nabila and guided by a Biology lecturer at FMIPA UI, Afiatry Putrika, M.Sc., was carried out through presentations and video screenings on how to grow vegetables, followed by farming practices.
The first activity was held last October, and it started with the delivery of the materials which was preceded by a pre-test to find out the children’s general knowledge about vegetables and hydroponics. The presentation of the materials is about the types of vegetables that can be grown with hydroponics and their benefits for the body, as well as the meaning of hydroponics.
The children also received explanations about the advantages of the hydroponic method, such as the use of land that is more efficient and does not require a lot of money. In addition, they were educated about the benefits of consuming vegetables for the body. The activity ended with interactive games to test participants’ knowledge. The participants looked very enthusiastic to answer, especially because the presenters provided prizes.
This activity was carried out with the hope that children would get the overview and be able to experience first-hand experience and knowledge in farming with the hydroponic method. Participants were divided into four groups with 9-10 people in each group, and they practiced from one post to another. There were three posts that they went through, which are post 1 which explained education on the practice of sowing seeds into rock wool; post 2 which did practices of the manufacture of AB Mix fertilizer; and post 3 which did practices of putting rock wool containing sprouts into a net pot. Finally, they placed the net pot into a tub filled with nutrients. The post-to-post activities lasted for 1 hour, and all the children seemed active in the post-to-post activities.
The community service team distributed booklets for each child and invited them to do small research observing the vegetables that they had planted for the next month. They were asked to measure plant height, number of leaves, and leaf color during the observation. After that, they were also asked to write down what they felt while caring for the plants.
The community service activity received a positive response from Abdullah Hafidz as the Chairperson of Daarul Ma’wa Yatim Foundation. He said that Kukayur’s activities provided knowledge that was rarely obtained by orphans.
