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The Community Learning Center (PKBM) Insan Motekar, supported by the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Borma Department Store Marketing Company, and CV Kreasi Abadi Vegetable Company, has launched a vegetable agribusiness development program utilizing hydroponic technology. Ahmad Aradea, Head of Early Childhood Education and Community Education at the Sumedang Regency Education Office, stated that the program is a concrete step towards empowering the community, particularly millennials and PKBM students, to enhance their knowledge and skills in agribusiness based on innovation and technology. "We hope this program can attract the interest of PKBM alumni and other young people to venture into agriculture," Aradea said during the PKBM Insan Motekar Verification event and the First Hydroponic Vegetable Harvest in Jatinunggal Sumedang on Saturday (20/4).

Aradea emphasized that PKBM, as an institution formed by, from, and for the community, is expected to be self-sufficient and play an active role in helping the government address unemployment, poverty, especially extreme poverty, and increasing the education level in Sumedang Regency. "The government's role in developing PKBM includes providing support, facilitating, and conducting capacity-building for PKBM, both in terms of organization, licensing, and human resource development," he added. This program is expected to inspire other educational institutions and communities to adopt technology and innovation in developing the agricultural sector and create sustainable business opportunities for the younger generation.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ir. Kartib Bayu, Head of the Research, Community Service, and Innovation Team (PPMI) SAPPK Bandung Institute of Technology, expressed concern over the low quality of human resources in the agricultural sector in rural areas. "The low interest of young people in agriculture is reflected in statistics showing that 61% of farmers are over 45 years old. Yet, the younger generation is the key to the success of the agricultural sector," he said to Radar Sumedang on Monday (22/7).

He pointed out that millennials are less interested in working and doing business in agriculture, leading to high urbanization rates. The lack of interest in agriculture among young people is not only due to low income but also due to limited access to land. "They prefer other jobs over being farmers. Additionally, there is still a perception that agriculture is outdated, dirty, and so on. Agriculture is often stigmatized as merely involving manual labor, making it appear to be a dirty and poor sector," he said.

He argued that the negative image of agriculture as dirty and poor is based on a lack of strong evidence that farming is promising. With an aging agricultural workforce and limited understanding of management due to insufficient knowledge, the agricultural sector struggles. "We (PPMI SAPPK ITB team) are on the ground to conduct innovation literacy through workshops and tutorials, providing examples of vegetable businesses using hydroponic technology, and offering mentorship," he said.

Kartib Bayu mentioned that the implementation of the vegetable business innovation literacy using hydroponic technology is accompanied by intensive mentoring from greenhouse construction, installation setup, cultivation, post-harvest, to marketing. "Specifically for marketing, we involve Borma Department Store to ensure the process and production quality meet their requirements," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hamid, Head of PKBM Insan Motekar, expressed his desire to participate more in efforts to address poverty, unemployment, and increase educational levels in Sumedang Regency. "To achieve this, we (PKBM) have several limitations. Therefore, we collaborate with various parties, including lecturers from the Bandung Institute of Technology, to carry