IPB Students Develop an Agro-Islamic Farm Concept (AIF)
The students of Bogor Agricultural University in the Student Creativity Program (PKM) team, namely Eva Kurniasih, Siska Rosdiana, Maulana Yusuf Ibrahim, Dhea Nurlaela and Dudung Abdul Malik has made an agricultural business innovation called AgroIslamic Farm (AIF) with a shariah-based LEISA system.
AIF is an integrated agricultural company to generate various healthy, safe and halal products of agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery products organically and based on sharia. The innovation of this PKM team is a LEISA system (Low-External Input and Sustainable Agriculture). It combines plant, animal, soil, water, climate, and human components in the production system to complement and synergize one another. Its benefits can be seen from four aspects, namely the agronomic aspect (an increased land producing capacity), the economic aspects (diversified products and outputs as well as higher quality and lower costs, the ecological aspect (reduced pest attacks, pesticide use, and erosion control), and the social aspect (more evenly distributed income).
In addition, in its business management, AIF prioritizes the sharia law so that financial aspects, marketing, human resources, and operational management would always follow the rules of sharia called Fiqh Muamalah. The use of LEISA system encourages all components of production to come from nature and to be purely organic, so the resulted products would be vegetable leaves, fruits, bunny and freshwater crabs that are organic, healthy, of high quality, safe and free from harmful chemicals such as pesticides and so on. The sharia-based management is to ensure all products are halal and good for consumption. The purely organic, good, and halal products offer an added value to attract consumers.
The AIF production site is Babakan Village, Dramaga District, Bogor Regency. This site is selected because Bogor is potential and strategic as the center of agricultural innovation. In the early stages of production, Eva and the team started on a small scale to see sales and consumer responses. AIF's market target is directly to the communities, restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets to reap optimal benefits even on a small scale. AIF holds sharia principles in its business and will get profit to be distributed to several channels: 40 % profit sharing, 20 % saving for production, 30 % business savings, and 10 % infak (charity). The practice of LEISA and Sharia system is expected to boost the company's productivity and become its distinct identity so that AIF can become a sustainable and beneficial business for the society. (Mtd)
