Implementing Circular Agriculture on Tidal Flats: Unsri’s Faculty of Agriculture Community Service Team Trains Farmers in Tanjung Lago to Process Coconut Waste into Tricopeat

The Community Service Team from the Faculty of Agriculture at Sriwijaya University (FP Unsri) carried out a farmer empowerment program titled “Implementation of the Circular Agriculture Concept through Coconut Waste-Based Tricopeat to Improve Coconut Crop Productivity in Tanjung Lago” in Tanjung Lago Village, Tanjung Lago Subdistrict, Banyuasin Regency. Led by Santa Maria Lumbantoruan, S.P., M.P., along with faculty members and support staff from FP Unsri, this initiative was designed to address the issue of accumulating coconut husk waste that has not been optimally utilized, while also tackling fertility challenges in tidal swamp farmland characterized by high acidity and nutrient deficiencies.

As part of the initiative, the community service team introduced appropriate technology in the form of a coconut husk shredder to the local community and farmers’ groups. Through this mechanical processing, coconut husk waste is separated into two high-value byproducts: cocofiber—coconut fiber with the potential to serve as raw material for various industrial products—and cocopeat—a fine powder used as a growing medium and soil conditioner.

This circular agriculture innovation was further enhanced through the development of Tricopeat, a cocopeat formulation enriched with the beneficial microorganism Trichoderma. The use of these functional microorganisms is designed to maintain the health of the root ecosystem and improve the quality of the plant growth environment in suboptimal soils; its long-term effectiveness in increasing coconut productivity will continue to be monitored through ongoing field trials.

To ensure effective technology transfer, the Unsri team not only presented the material but also actively engaged farmers through demonstrations of shredder machine operation and hands-on practice in the production of cocopeat, cocofiber, and Tricopeat. This participatory approach is expected to foster the self-reliance of the Tanjung Lago Village farmers’ group in sustainably managing plantation waste while creating alternative sources of income based on the local circular economy.