25 April 2022
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The Faculty of Agriculture sent the secretary of the study program, several lecturers, alumni, and students from the Agrotechnology Study Program to conduct a preliminary survey regarding the issues of chili seedling and cultivation in Lubuk Cuik, a village fostered by PT Inalum. This survey is the result of an agreement following an initial visit by PT Inalum and the Lubuk Cuik village officials, who previously visited the Faculty of Agriculture in March 2022. The Faculty of Agriculture team from the Agrotechnology Study Program was welcomed by the leadership and members of PT Inalum's CSR at the Main Office in Kuala Tanjung, Batu Bara Regency, North Sumatra (Thursday, April 7, 2022).
The head of CSR at PT Inalum explained, "PT Inalum has issues with land along the tower line owned by PT Inalum. This land is estimated to stretch ±120 km and passes through several villages. Local people sometimes plant oil palm, which can cause short circuits and fires on PT Inalum's towers. If this happens, it is estimated to cause losses of ±2 billion rupiahs." He also added, “When PT Inalum was managed by Japan, tall oil palm plants around the towers were bought by the company. However, this program has been discontinued, so PT Inalum is now collaborating with several students from the Karya Salemba Empat (KSE) scholarship program to help local farmers around the towers plant more suitable crops such as chili, eggplant, and legumes."
In addition to the meeting at PT Inalum's Main Office, the Faculty of Agriculture team was also welcomed by the Chairman of the Farmers' Group Association and the Chairwoman of the Women's Farmers' Group for a visit to Lubuk Cuik Village, located ±16 km from PT Inalum’s main office. The Chairman of the Farmers' Group Association explained, "Farmers started planting chili on this land on February 15, 2022, with an expected harvest around H+7 of Eid al-Fitr 2022 (the first week of May 2022)."
"Based on the survey conducted by the Faculty of Agriculture USU in the field, we aim to understand the issues on this land in more detail," said the Secretary of the Agrotechnology Study Program. "We will collect soil samples from the land, leaf samples from the existing plants, samples of plants affected by fungal and viral diseases, pest samples from around the land, and conduct interviews with farmers regarding the cultivation techniques they are using."
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