On Sunday, 8th October 2023, the Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat – Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (PkM-MBKM) Faculty of Biology, UGM 2023, 5 undergraduate students of Faculty of Biology, UGM class of 2020, namely Arba’ Ramadhani Artik, Arneta Yuvita, Ester Dewanti Yovita Wardani, Fadiah Sri Rahayu, and Zidni Meirizka Utami supervised by Dr. Ardaning Nuriliani, S.Si., M.Kes. and Ms. Nurini Aru Sudarsi as the partner mentor have carried out the socialization activities to the residents in Pajangan, Wedomartani Village, Ngemplak, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The theme of the socialization was “Improving the Community’s through Optimizing of Vacant Land”. This program aims to engage the community to improve the economic condition of the family by utilizing vacant land in the yard area of the house to plant vegetables, fruits, herbs, and several medicine and functional plants or also called “TOGA”. In this activity, we invited Mr. Panggih Dwi Atmojo, S.T. as a speaker. He is an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering, UGM who is currently active as an agro economic practitioner as well as the founder and owner of Agro Edukasi Caping Merapi Yogyakarta which is located at Kenayan, Wedomartani, Ngemplak, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region. The given presentation discussed topics about food gardening, including vegetable garden cultivation, as well as rising fish, chickens, and other small livestock to meet daily food needs. He also discussed about urban farming, which is the method of farming in the city or on limited land. In addition, the speaker also emphasized that the use of vacant land as a food garden can provide various other benefits, such as the community can provide traditional medicine independently, add decoration to the garden, provide refreshing activities through gardening, obtain healthier food that is free from chemical fertilizers, and produce biofertilizer which can be obtained through composting, eco lindi, and manure systems. This can also serve to overcome the problem of handling organic waste.

This socialization was attended by around 20 residents and received a very positive response, even some residents were very enthusiastic and directly involved in the discussion session together with the speakers.

Sunday, 4 June 2023 Oceans Day 2023 was held by the Marine Studies Group of the Faculty of Biology UGM as part of their participation in World Ocean Day on June 8 and was attended by 56 members of Marine Study Group and 18 volunteers from Faculty of Biology UGM. Ocean Day 2023 has the theme “Stop Plastic Waste Polluting the Sea”  and comprised two main activities: a seminar and beach cleanup.

The Seminar began at 08.30 to 11.00 at the auditorium of Biology Tropika and was guided by Renisha Windy Puspita Sari (DXXII) and Ahmad Aris B. R. (DXXIII). The seminar began with a welcoming speech from Filda Mega AYU as chairperson of the committee and A. Najib Dhiaurahman , the chairperson of Marine Study Group. Then the seminar continued with a presentation on plastic waste management to reduce water pollution and its solution through marine biology by Tyas Ikhsan Hikmawan, M.Sc., Ph.D. followed by discussion.

The next series of activities was beach clean-up at Baros Beach which took place 13.00 WIB to 16.00 WIB. This beach cleaning activity is a volunteer activity carried out directly on the shores of Baros Beach, collecting scattered waste in the area and educating about marine waste management.

May the knowledge and experience that has been given at Oceans Day 2023 not stop at this event alone, but be accepted and implemented continuously by all participants , and shared with anyone. Eternal and unlimited, invincible and powerful, such is the ocean. Together, let’s save the seas from all damage and pollution because this can be a real action to protect future generations. Happy World Sea Day! Cheers to Jay KSK!

In order to introduce waste management techniques, the team of Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat – Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (PkM MBKM) Faculty of Biology 2023 chaired by Rina Sri Kasiamdari, S.Si., Ph.D. and involved two students namely Galuh Kirana Mahadewi and Laila Uswatun Chasanah have carried out activities related to organic waste management in Dusun Kepuh Kulon RT 001, Wirokerten, Banguntapan, Bantul. This activity is planned to take place in 2 semesters, starting with a socialization event which have been held on Sunday 14 May 2023 from 09.00 to 10.30 WIB at the house of the neighborhood head of RT 001, Mr. Zamzuri. This socialization activity was attended by 15 participants of RT 001 and the head of Hamlet. In her greetings, Ms. Rina said that the MBKM PkM activity was the second year of the MBKM PkM Program at RT 001 Kepuh Kulon. The Waste Management theme is a program that is expected to be applied by people in their homes or in their environment. Head of the hamlet, Mr. Sunartana conveyed the importance of household-scale waste management. This is because a lot of garbage has accumulated in various places due to garbage dumps that can no longer accommodate waste. In this socialization activity, it was explained the meaning of waste, types of waste, examples, as well as how to process waste into more useful items.

After the socialization activities were carried out, then practical activities were carried out in managing household organic waste into compost and eco enzymes. This activity was held on Sunday, 21 May 2023 from 09.30 to 11.00 WIB at the house of the neighborhood head of RT 001, Mr. Zamzuri. This activity was attended by 23 participants consisting of women from Kepuh Kulon RT 001. Before doing the practice, Galuh and Laila demonstrated how to make compost and eco enzymes from household waste. In this activity, Rania Naura Anindhita, a student at the UGM Faculty of Biology, introduced her product to the participants who attended. Eco Lindi is a liquid that neutralizes the smell of garbage, the smell of garbage sprayed by Eco Lindi will disappear within 10 minutes. During the practice of making compost and eco enzymes, the community was divided into four groups, one group consisting of 5 to 6 people and each group carried out independent practices. The waste used comes from household waste collected a few days before. At the end of the activity, the MBKM PkM team distributed EM4, molasses, and Eco Lindi to the participants that attend, so they could re-practice making the compost and eco enzyme at their homes. Eco Lindi that is distributed can be sprayed to remove the smell of household waste, chicken coops, or cattle houses. This PkM MBKM activity will be continued from July to November with the utilization of household waste into more useful materials.

Two Biology students Class of 2019 who are members of the “Organic Sheet Mulch” team under the guidance of Dwi Umi Siswanti, S.Sc., M.Sc. won a bronze medal on March 21, 2023 in an international scientific work competition. The team chaired by Vykra Aulia Firdiana with one member, namely Fatika Soraya Taufik took part in the Agritech Research and Entrepreneurship Innovation (AGREETION) competition which was held in cooperation with several organizations at the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, University of Brawijaya, including the Agritech Research and Study Club (ARSC), Agritechno Business Center (ABC), Agricultural Industrial Technology Student Association (HIMATITAN), Agricultural Engineering Student Association (HIMATETA), and Agricultural Product Technology Student Association (HIMALOGISTA). This competition takes place from 1 February 2023 to. 21 March 2023 and was successfully attended by 243 teams from three countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines).

The big theme that was carried out in this competition was “Development and Innovation on Sustainable Agro-Based Industry Technology to Achieve Human Welfare” with 4 sub-themes. In this competition, Vykra and Soraya compiled a scientific work on the sub-theme “Green Agroindustry and Bio-economy” entitled “Organic Mulch from Sewage Sludge and Banana Pseudostem Waste to Reduce the Impact of Drought Due to El Nino Phenomenon on Horticultural Crops to Improve Human Welfare”. The problem behind the preparation of this scientific work is the statement by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) regarding an increase in drought up to three times worse due to an increase in the El Nino index which is predicted to occur in mid-2023. This has the potential to further increase puso (parched) due to drought which has long been a problem for farmers despite the low El Nino index.

In this scientific work, sewage sludge and banana leaf waste are used as organic mulches which are able to maintain soil water content during the drought phase so that soil moisture is maintained. The organic materials contained in this mulch innovation also add to the role of mulch as a supplier of additional nutrients to the soil to support optimal plant growth. The use of these two materials is an effort to utilize biowaste and create a green agroindustry. The hope is that this innovation can be used as a reference in anticipating and reducing puso due to drought