The Community Service Team (Pengmas) of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), consisting of Dimas Haryo Pradana, M.Si., Dr. Retno Lestari, M.Si., Dr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc., and eight student members were present in person at Pantai Bahagia Village, Muara Gembong District, Bekasi Regency on Monday, June 20, 2022.
The team’s presence at the location was to help milkfish farmers(Chanos chanosForsk.) maximize pond yields through minametric innovation.
Minametri is an innovation developed by four lecturers at the University of Indonesia with properties as a fertilizer, supplement, and medicine for preventing disease in fish and shrimp.
This community service program collaborates with the Pandu Cendekia Foundation, and receives funding support from the Directorate of Community Service and Empowerment, University of Indonesia (DPPM UI).
Team leader, Dimas, said this activity followed the success of a program with similar innovations in tiger shrimp ponds. (Penaeus monodon) which the team carried out from June to September 2020 at the same location.
“The use of mineral fertilizers and a semi-intensive pond system for tiger prawn cultivation in 2020 successfully resolved the problems faced by farmers in Muara Bahagia Village by increasing tiger prawn productivity, thereby improving the community’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dimas told the FMIPA UI Public Relations team.
“We designed the ponds semi-intensively, with walls around the edges but soil remaining at the bottom. This way, we provide nutrients to the soil and the milkfish themselves,” Dimas explained the minometric method for milkfish farming.
The team hopes this program will be as successful as its previous program for tiger prawn ponds. The superior quality of the produce and increased harvest quantities will undoubtedly boost the economy of shrimp farmers.
Meanwhile, the majority of people in Pantai Bahagia Village earn their living as open sea fishermen and fish farmers, so they depend on the sea and fish ponds for their livelihood.
Milkfish(Chanos chanosForsk.) is a type of fish that lives in brackish water and is a popular choice for farming because of its adaptability and high nutritional content.
Therefore, through this community service program, it is hoped that it will become a means of education and introduction to milkfish cultivation techniques using a semi-intensive system and using mineral fertilizers so that it can increase productivity and support the local economy.
Mahmud, one of the fish farmers in Pantai Bahagia Village, admitted that the recent milkfish harvest was less than satisfactory because the harvest did not reach the target.
“We released 17,000 fry yesterday, aiming for a minimum of 10,000, about 80% of the target. But the results were only about 60%, with 8,000-10,000 live fish,” he said.
According to Mahmud, the less-than-optimal harvest was due to weather factors and unsuitable natural feed, both in terms of market price and quality. However, thanks to the minametric pond outreach conducted by the FMIPA UI community service team, harvest yields have begun to increase rapidly and become optimal.
Mahmud also explained that the price of feed has increased from Rp 210,000 per sack to Rp 235,000 per sack. This presents a challenge for fish farmers’ economic well-being, necessitating a reduction in the usual 200 to 300 sacks of feed per hectare.
“We needsupport, especially from the government itself. Feed prices are currently out of control,” Mahmud continued.
