Erbron-C, Pengutip Brondolan Sawit by IPB University Students
Five IPB University students who are members of the 2019 Student Creativity Program (PKM) make palm fritters. They are Tegar Nur Hidayat, Affan Afrizal Gani, Sanhaji, Dikki Hendra Pratama, Maulana Malik Yusuf. The five students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Biosystems, Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Fateta) of IPB University were guided by Dr. Ir. Radite P.A. Setiawan, M. Agr.
"So far, palm oil leaflet citations have been done manually. In addition to being inefficient because it requires a lot of workers and is tiring when quoted by hand, citing with a scratching tool will physically damage the palm fronds. Scratching also causes many contaminants to be taken and results in a decrease in the yield of Crude Palm Oil (CPO). Therefore, we created an ergonomic palm lime quoter called Erbron-C, "Tegar said as Team Leader.
According to him, because it is not effective in terms of time and requires a lot of workers, many plantations do not do loose quotations. This resulted in a loss of 281 kilograms or 14 percent per hectare.
Erbron-C is here to make it easier for workers to quote loose. Besides being effective and ergonomic, the price is also affordable and can maintain superior quality.
"Erbron-C has a compact, lightweight design, easy mobility to explore oil palm plantations, effective in quoting loose fruit, can maintain loose quality, and ergonomic (comfortable to use). The Erbron-C work process is a roller that is equipped with a pengipip unit on the entire surface. This unit applies the principle of elasticity and strength to hold weight (loose). So the roller when going forward or going will hit the palm leaf, the palm leaf will go into the pengutip because of its elasticity but will not be able to get out so that it does not fall to the ground anymore because of the pressure from the elasticity that traps the loose. Then when it rotates and is at the front end of the roller, it will be held back by the unit like a comb that prevents loose particles from turning back and into the shelter, "he explained.
With short training, everyone or workers can do it because this tool works only with a hand push and does not require a lot of energy to control it. Tegar and the team hope that this tool can be patented and work with several related agencies or companies for mass manufacturing so that it can be applied and commercialized in all oil palm plantations in Indonesia. (NR)
