Carrying the theme “Through the Farmer’s Field Day, a partnership for environmentally friendly and sustainable palm oil farmers is established”, activities of the Pangandaran Regency Farmer’s Field Day 2021 officially opened by the secretary of the Department of Agriculture Pangandaran Regency, Mr. Yadi Gunawan representing the Regent of Pangandaran, Mr. H. Jeje Wiradinata who was unable to attend on November 30, 2021 and take place at Karapyak Glamping and Lodges in Kalipucang District, Pangandaran, West Java. This Farmer’s Field Day event aims to bring together stakeholders in the coconut sugar industry in Pangandaran Regency and showing the results of farmers who have followed Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira (Coconut Sap Field School) and encourage the strong and efficient formation of coconut sap farmers institutions.
In this Farmer’s Field Day event, coconut farmers who have participated in Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira (Coconut Sap Field School), describe the results of the changes after attending Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira from June to November 2021. In this activity, an exhibition is also held to shows the documentation of the Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira process, the results of sap tapping, production inputs, and demo plot miniatures that used in Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira. Futhermore, Mr. Yadi Gunawan as secretary of the Pangandaran Regency Agriculture Department with Mr. Joe Irwan as Chairman of Asosiasi Gula Kelapa Pangandaran (AGKP) symbolically handed over the Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira graduation certificate to one of the farmer who represent other 479 farmers who have passed the first batch of Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira.
“To support coconut sap farmers, next year budget plan will be IDR 1.5 billion for the procurement of hybrid coconut seeds.” said Mr. Yadi Gunawan in his remarks as the government’s commitment to a sustainable coconut industry in Pangandaran.
As a concrete action in mitigating climate change, this Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira program trains coconut sap farmers to apply environmentally friendly and sustainable coconut sap cultivation practices. This program is organized by Widya Erti Indonesia, in collaboration with Unilever and PT Samudera Jaya Abadi. In addition, as an effort to gather more farmers, this Sekolah Lapang Kelapa Nira program will be continued with the 2nd wave for coconut sap farmers in Pangandaran Regency which will be held at the beginning of next 2022.
In support of environmentally friendly practices, farmers and guests are also invited in this event to reduce the use of single-use plastic products and replace it with MEMBUMI lifestyle, an environmentally and down-to-earth lifestyle. This was conveyed by the submission of MEMBUMI eco-bottle from Widya Erti Indonesia to the Secretary of Pangandaran Regency Agriculture Departement.
