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Yogyakarta, 11 April 2023 – Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian (FTP) UGM dan PT Integral Mulia Cipta sepakat menjalin kerja sama bidang pendidikan, penelitian, pengabdian masyarakat, dan pengembangan TriDharma Perguruan Tinggi untuk meningkatkan daya saing industri gula nasional di tingkat global. Kesepakatan ini dituangkan dalam nota kesepahaman (Memorandum of undestranding, MoU) yang ditandatangai di Ruang Sidang Departemen Teknik Pertanian dan Biosistem, Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian, UGM pada hari Selasa (11/04).
MoU ditandatangi oleh Dekan Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian UGM, Prof Dr Ir Eni Harmayani, M.Sc, dan Managing Director PT Integral Mulia Cipta, Bapak Mario Ngensowidjaja. MoU ini merupakan tindak lanjut dari undangan kunjungan tim peneliti gula kelapa Departemen Teknik Pertanian Biosistem ke fasilitas produksi gula kelapa organik PT Integral Mulia Cipta di Kabupaten Banyumas pada 25 Maret 2023.
Sebagai Fakultas yang memiliki visi menjadi pusat unggulan (center of excellence) bertaraf internasional dalam penyelenggaraan tridharma perguruan tinggi di bidang agroindustri ini, FTP telah banyak berkecimpung dalam penelitian dan pemberdayagunaan masryakat untuk pengembangan mutu gula kelapa dari hulu ke hilir. Sedangkan PT Integral Mulia Cipta merupakan produsen dan eksportir gula kelapa yang tersertifikasi organik dan safety yang menggandeng sekitar 5000 petani kelapa di 9 kabupaten dalam proses produksinya.
Secara global, Indonesia menjadi produsen gula kelapa terbesar mengalahkan Vietnam, Malaysia, dan India. Kenaikan Permintaan gula kelapa pun selalu di atas 30% / tahun dengan lonjakan permintaan 100% dari tahun 2019 ke 2020. PT Integral Mulia Cipta sebagai perusahaan yang telah memproduksi gula kelapa untuk pasar Internasional selama 8 tahun masih menemui kendala dalam menjaga keseragaman produk setengah jadi dari petani binaan. Karena sifat nira kelapa yang mudah rusak, petani melakukan 80% proses pengolahan gula kelapa setengah jadi untuk kemudian diproses lebih lanjut di fasilitas yang dimiliki PT Integral Mulia Cipta. Karena kondisi ini, mutu produk yang dihasilkan belum dapat maksimal. Selain itu, terjadi kenaikan kesadaran konsumen luar negeri terhadap mutu gula kelapa yang lebih baik yang berimbas pada makin ketatnya aturan produk yang boleh dipasarkan.
“Melalui kerjasama antara PT Integral Mulia Cipta dengan Fakultas teknologi Pertanian UGM, kami mengharapkan dapat terjalin upaya bersama dalam memperbaiki sistem dan teknologi produksi gula kelapa sehingga dapat terwujud pengembangan industri gula nasional”, ujar Bapak Mario Ngensowidjaja.
Menurut perwakilan Tim peneliti gula kelapa sekaligus Wakil Dekan Bidang Penelitian dan Kerja Sama FTP UGM, Dr Sri Rahayoe, STP, MP, salah satu strategi yang dapat dikembangkan untuk tujuan tersebut adalah implementasi manajemen dan teknologi yang mendukung sustainability. Strategi tersebut meliputi pembinaan petani setempat, klasterisasi petani untuk memanfaatkan sarana produksi secara kolektif, pemanfaatan sistem real-time monitoring terhadap kondisi cuaca di lingkungan lahan perkebunan dan produksi, dan penerapan GMP (good manufacturing practice). Selain itu, upaya ini dapat disinergikan dengan kegiatan pendidikan seperti melalui program MBKM (Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka).
Dalam acara ini turut hadir mitra dagang PT Integral Mulia Cipta, Bapak Yoshua dari Singapura, Bapak Raihan, Ketua Departemen Teknik Pertanian dan Biosistem, Prof Dr Ir Lilik Sutiarso, M.Eng, dan anggota tim peneliti gula kelapa dari Departemen Teknik Pertanian dan Biosistem, termasuk Dr Arifin Dwi Saputro, STP, M.Sc, Dr Hanim Zuhrotul Amanah, STP, M.Sc, dan Redika Ardi Kusuma, STP, M.Si.
Kontributor: Redika Ardi Kusuma
Yogyakarta, April 11, 2023 – Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) UGM and PT Integral Mulia Cipta agreed to cooperate in the fields of education, research, community service, and the development of the TriDharma of Higher Education to increase the competitiveness of the national sugar industry at the global level. This agreement was outlined in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in the Meeting Room of the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Biosystems, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, UGM, on Tuesday (11/04).
The MoU was signed by the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology UGM, Prof Dr. Ir Eni Harmayani, M.Sc, and the Managing Director of PT Integral Mulia Cipta, Mr. Mario Ngensowidjaja. This MoU is a follow-up to an invitation for the coconut sugar research team from the Biosystem Agricultural Engineering Department to PT Integral Mulia Cipta’s organic coconut sugar production facility in Banyumas Regency on March 25, 2023.
As a Faculty with a vision of becoming an international center of excellence in implementing the Tridharma of higher education in the agro-industry sector, FTP has been involved in research and community empowerment for developing the quality of coconut sugar from upstream to downstream. Meanwhile, PT Integral Mulia Cipta is a producer and exporter of coconut sugar that is certified organic and safe, which works with around 5,000 coconut farmers in 9 districts in the production process.
Globally, Indonesia is the largest producer of coconut sugar, beating Vietnam, Malaysia, and India. The increase in demand for coconut sugar is consistently above 30% annually, with a 100% increase in demand from 2019 to 2020. PT Integral Mulia Cipta, a company producing coconut sugar for the international market for eight years, still needs to improve in maintaining the uniformity of semi-finished products from farmers. Due to the perishable nature of coconut sap, farmers carry out 80% of the processing of semi-finished coconut sugar for further processing at facilities owned by PT Integral Mulia Cipta. Due to this condition, the product quality cannot be maximized. In addition, there has been an increase in the awareness of foreign consumers about the better quality of coconut sugar, which has resulted in increasingly stringent rules on products that may be marketed.
“Through the collaboration between PT Integral Mulia Cipta and the Faculty of Agricultural Technology UGM, we hope that joint efforts will be made to improve the coconut sugar production system and technology so that the development of the national sugar industry can be realized,” said Mr. Mario Ngensowidjaja.
According to the representative of the coconut sugar research team, who is also the Vice Dean for Research and Cooperation of the FTP-UGM, Dr. Sri Rahayoe, STP, MP, one of the strategies that can be developed for this purpose is the implementation of management and technology that supports sustainability. This strategy includes coaching local farmers, clustering farmers to collectively utilize production facilities, utilizing a real-time monitoring system for weather conditions in the plantation and production area, and implementing GMP (good manufacturing practice). In addition, this effort can be synergized with educational activities such as the MBKM (freedom to learn) program.
The event was also attended by a trading partner of PT Integral Mulia Cipta, Mr. Yoshua from Singapore, Mr. Raihan, Head of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, Prof. Dr. Ir Lilik Sutiarso, M.Eng, and members of the coconut sugar research team from the Department of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, including Dr. Arifin Dwi Saputro, STP, M.Sc, Dr. Hanim Zuhrotul Amanah, STP, M.Sc, and Redika Ardi Kusuma, STP, M.Sc.
Contributor: Redika Ardi Kusuma
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Great! Hope this collaboration will improve and strenghten the national coconut sugar industry.