IPB Supplies Elephant Grass in Sukabumi
Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) took major harvest of elephant grass in Nanggerang village, Sukabumi, Saturday (25/1). This program is a model of elephant grass development on non-productive land in collaboration with the community. In the implementation, IPB asked Qiara Institute, an NGO in the field of agriculture as a facilitator and assistant on the field.
"So far three models of development have been developed in three villages, namely Cileksa, Taman Sari in Bogor Regency, and Nanggerang in Sukabumi Regency with a total area of about 10 hectares,” said Director of Research and Strategic Studies, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Dr. Ir. Dodik Nurrokhmat.
This activity is to maintain the supply of green forage for livestock (HPT), which currently still depends on natural grass gathered by animal farm employees or on the purchase from a supplier. This causes an irregular supply of grass. Moreover, in the dry season, there is less supply of grass. This is one reason for cattle farmers not to increase the number of their cows.
This livestock feed ‘elephant grass’, type of cvmott (Pennisetum purerium) or locally better known as “rumput odot", is the best choice because of its high productivity. It can weigh more than 60 tons per hectare per two months and almost all of its parts can be used. Additionally, based on laboratory test results of the analysis of nutrient content, it also has a high percentage of protein (about 17-19 %), the total digestible nutrient (64.31 %), and lignin content (2.5 %) of the dry matter. The market test also shows a promising response. Dr. Dodik said the elephant grass is also marketed to PT. Fajar Taurus with a delivery volume of about five tons per day. This is one marketing solution.
According to him, this model, which is set up IPB, takes a number of strategies, namely: 1. the use of non-productive land, 2. an agroforestry system or intercropping in order to optimize the land use, 3. the public involvement as a provider of land, cultivation techniques and harvesting, 4. sustainable and viable business, 5. having market certainty .
Dr. Dodik hopes this development model of odot grass can be replicated in other places so as to provide a real contribution to the improvement of forage supply by involving various stakeholders. "This activity is also expected to support and provide real benefits to the meat sovereignty of Indonesia as well as to create jobs and increase the income of the community," he said. (Mtd)
