Depok, September 25th 2023. In the midst of declining air quality around the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) areas, gardening is one of the activities that can contribute to improving air quality. Of the various gardening activities, urban farming is an activity that is currently in great demand among people. By utilizing land in the home environment, people can grow crops using an organic planting system that is healthier.
The many benefits obtained from this activity encouraged the Community Service Team (pengmas) of the Faculty of Humanities (FIB) Universitas Indonesia (UI) to carry out training and outreach to the residents of RT 05 Jl. Mandar Bintaro Jaya, South Tangerang. The FIB UI Community Service Team consisted of two French study program (prodi) lecturers, namely Diah Kartini Lasman, M.Hum., and Airin Miranda, M.A., as well as two French study program students Diajeng Nathaneilia Rafwa Salsabila and Muhammad Azzam Rakan Noor. Apart from that, one of the FIB UI alumni, Alya Zahra Fauzi, S.Hum, also participated. This community service also collaborated with the Citigrower Community, an organization that raises awareness among urban communities about carrying out farming activities on limited land.
This activity, entitled “City Agriculture as an Urban Lifestyle”, was held with offline training and webinar activities via Zoom from May to August 2023. The first meeting began with a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) regarding the needs of the residents of RT 05 Jl. Mandar Bintaro Jaya regarding urban farming knowledge. From this discussion, information was obtained that several explanations regarding organic gardens and how to start gardening, the types and varieties of plants that are suitable for planting in urban home environments, as well as the introduction and preparation of planting media needed in the planting process are things that are really needed.
In the next few sessions, the FIB UI Community Service team and Citigrower focused on the process of caring for plants in city housing, related to several complaints from residents such as yellow leaves, fruit trees only flowering but not bearing fruit, trees with thick leaves but not bearing fruit, and so on. Some of the concerns cited by the FIB UI Community Service Team were residents’ anxiety about planting but not reaping the results. The Citigrower team helps change the perception that planting trees is an action to help fight global warming.
In connection with this concern, the team also introduced various ways to make natural fertilizer, and ways to deal with pests organically so that plants can grow well in accordance with residents’ expectations. As a closing session, the urban farming counseling ended with a webinar via Zoom, with resource person Dian Triastari Armanda, M.Si, as the originator of Citigrower. She provided material in the form of processing harvests, especially what can be done with excess harvests in urban environments, so that harvest products can be utilized optimally.
The public was very enthusiastic about this webinar and some immediately tried making strawberry jam from the harvest in their yard. Until now, the FIB UI Community Service Team and Citigrower are still actively communicating and assisting residents of RT 05 Jl. Mandar, Bintaro via WhatsApp Group who conveyed practical questions regarding urban farming and environmental maintenance.
