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Permintaan buah tropis ini terus mengalami peningkatan, terutama ke Benua Eropa. Bentuk dan warna yang eksotik dari buah naga menjadi faktor permintaan pasar internasional terhadap buah naga Indonesia. Hal ini membuka peluang ekspor buah naga dari Indonesia ke Eropa. PT. Nusa Tropical Indonesia merupakan perusahaan ekspor yang bergerak di bidang pertanian, salah satu target ekspor PT. Nusa Tropical adalah buah naga. Jika dilihat dari aspek bisnis, distribusi produk pertanian menggunakan kargo pesawat dinilai sangat mahal, yang berdampak pada tingginya harga retail produk di Eropa. Hal ini akan membuat buah naga Indonesia sulit bersaing dengan produk dari Vietnam dan Thailand yang telah berhasil mengekspor buah naga ke Eropa. Distribusi menggunakan kargo kapal diketahui jauh lebih ekonomis namun membutuhkan waktu 6-8 minggu. Lamanya waktu tempuh beresiko menyebabkan rusaknya produk segar sebelum tiba di Eropa. Untuk menghemat biaya distribusi, sekaligus menurunkan harga retail produk, pengiriman via laut perlu didukung dengan teknik preservasi produk segar yang efektif, aman, praktis dan murah.
Untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut 3 (tiga) dosen dari Departemen Teknik Pertanian dan Biosistem (DTPB), Bayu Nugraha, STP., M.Sc., PhD., Dr. Ir. Nursigit Bintoro, STP., M.Sc., dan Dr. Sri Rahayoe, STP., MP. dan 1 (satu) dosen dari Sekolah Vokasi (SV), UGM, Fahrizal Yusuf Affandi, STP., M.Sc., PhD., melakukan uji penyimpanan buah naga bekerjasama dengan PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia di Kabupaten Banyuwangi, Jawa Timur. Kegiatan uji penyimpanan ini diintegrasikan dengan program kerja praktik mahasiswa DTPB. Buah naga disimpan selama 6 minggu mulai dari 13 Januari hingga 25 Februari 2023, mengikuti lama waktu perjalanan distribusi ekspor via jalur laut ke Eropa. Hasil pengujian awal memberikan hasil positif dimana kualitas buah naga mampu dipertahankan selama 21 hari. Di akhir penyimpanan, diadakan pemaparan hasil pengujian kepada para petani buah naga yang produknya digunakan sebagai sampel oleh Bayu Nugraha, PhD, Dr. Nursigit Bintoro, dan Anisa Kistanti, STP (asisten kegiatan).
Melihat potensi pada metode penyimpanan yang dilakukan, penandatanganan Momenrandum of Agreement (MoA) antara FTP UGM dan PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia dilakukan pada Rabu, 1 Maret 2023 untuk menindaklanjuti kerjasama pengujian. Ketiga founder PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia, Moh. Andriza Syarifudin, S.T., Mohammad Iqbal, S.Si., dan Pekik Wernendya, S.Pd. Penandatanganan kerjasama ini membuka peluang kegiatan penelitian dan pengabdian masyarakat dosen dan mahasiswa DTPB. Diharapkan dengan kegiatan yang sudah dan akan dilakukan akan merealisasikan ekspor buah naga Indonesia ke Eropa.
Kontributor: Bayu Nugraha
The demand for tropical fruits, especially in Europe, continues to rise. The exotic shape and color of dragon fruit are factors driving international market demand for Indonesian dragon fruit. This opens up opportunities for exporting dragon fruit from Indonesia to Europe. PT. Nusa Tropical Indonesia is an export company specializing in agriculture, and one of its export targets is dragon fruit. From a business perspective, distributing agricultural products using air cargo is considered expensive, leading to higher retail prices in Europe. This can make it challenging for Indonesian dragon fruit to compete with products from Vietnam and Thailand, which have successfully exported dragon fruit to Europe. Distribution via sea cargo is known to be more economical but takes 6-8 weeks, posing a risk of product spoilage before reaching Europe. To save distribution costs and lower retail prices, sea shipment needs to be supported by effective, safe, practical, and cost-efficient fresh product preservation techniques.
To address this issue, three faculty members from the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (DTPB), Bayu Nugraha, STP., M.Sc., PhD., Dr. Ir. Nursigit Bintoro, STP., M.Sc., and Dr. Sri Rahayoe, STP., MP., along with one faculty member from the School of Vocational Studies (SV), UGM, Fahrizal Yusuf Affandi, STP., M.Sc., PhD., conducted a storage test for dragon fruit in collaboration with PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java. This storage test activity was integrated with the practical work program for DTPB students. The dragon fruit was stored for 6 weeks from January 13th to February 25th, 2023, corresponding to the duration of sea export distribution to Europe. The preliminary test results yielded positive outcomes, demonstrating that the quality of dragon fruit could be maintained for up to 21 days. At the end of the storage period, the results of the testing were presented to dragon fruit farmers, whose products were used as samples, by Bayu Nugraha, PhD, Dr. Nursigit Bintoro, and Anisa Kistanti, STP (activity assistant).
Recognizing the potential in the storage method used, the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between FTP UGM and PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia took place on Wednesday, March 1st, 2023, to follow up on the testing collaboration. The three founders of PT Nusa Tropical Indonesia, Moh. Andriza Syarifudin, S.T., Mohammad Iqbal, S.Si., and Pekik Wernendya, S.Pd., signed this collaboration, opening up opportunities for research and community service activities involving DTPB faculty members and students. It is hoped that through these activities, the export of Indonesian dragon fruit to Europe will become a reality.
Contributor: Bayu Nugraha
