Advantages and Job Prospects of the D4 Livestock Technology and Management Study Program at the Vocational School of IPB University

Livestock Technology and Management (TNK) is one of the applied undergraduate study programs (D4) at the Vocational School of IPB University. Already accredited A, this study program places more emphasis on developing livestock farming skills, so that when they graduate, students are ready to work or run businesses in the livestock sector.

"Livestock is one of the commodities that contribute animal protein to humans, such as meat, eggs and milk. As the number of people increases, the need for food, especially protein sources of animal origin will also increase, so that the TNK Study Program is here to take its role in preparing superior human resources (HR) in the field of animal husbandry and will ultimately support the fulfillment of animal protein-based food," said the Head of the TNK Study Program, Danang Priyambodo, SPt, MSi.

Danang explained that TNK students will study for four years which will be taught by lecturers with Masters and Doctoral qualifications who graduated from the best domestic and foreign universities.

"In the first year, TNK students will be equipped with supporting core competency courses. Entering the second year, students begin to study several core competency courses, namely cultivating livestock such as broiler and laying poultry as well as broiler and dairy ruminants," he explained.

Furthermore, students will learn to do breeding and breeding of livestock as well as handling and post-harvesting of livestock products in the third year. In addition, students learn about functional management (operations, finance, HR and marketing) including its management in the livestock business.

"In the fourth year, students carry out the Freedom Curriculum, Independent Campus (MBKM) programs in the form of industrial internships, running a business or conducting applied research in the livestock sector and then pouring it into the final project in the form of making reports or product prototypes," he said.

Lecture activities in the TNK Study Program are supported by adequate facilities. According to Danang, the facilities that support practicum activities in the TNK Study Program are very complete and in accordance with the needs of students. The TNK Study Program already has ruminant livestock laboratories (cow, sheep and goats) and poultry laboratories (broilers, layers, ducks, quail and hatchery units), as well as supporting facilities such as chicken slaughterhouses and land for the cultivation of forage fodder. These facilities will help student learning to achieve the targeted competencies.

"Apart from the laboratory, TNK Study Program also has a teaching factory (Tefa) for broiler chickens with a maintenance capacity of 40,000 heads to support student practicum activities in accordance with the industrial world," he said.

Several achievements have been achieved by TNK students and lecturers both at the national and international levels. TNK student achievements in the last three years include 1st place in the 8th Agricultural Farming System Competition in the 2023 Scientific Writing Competition at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), recipient of funding for Student Creativity Program (PKM) activities, 1st place in the International Student Competition in Summer activities Course Animal Production for 2021-2022 and many other achievements.

The achievements that have been achieved by TNK lecturers include receiving funding for Productive Innovative Research (Rispro) for Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) in 2021-2022, recipients of funding for matching fund activities for vocational higher education institutions in 2022 and 2023, recipients of further and short study scholarships courses for domestic and foreign, Best Research Paper at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 and various other achievements.

Apart from the advantages and achievements of the TNK Study Program, knowing the job prospects of graduates of this study program is especially important for prospective students. According to Danang, so far the job segmentation of TNK IPB University graduates is quite good. Graduates of the TNK Study Program can work in the livestock industry, livestock product processing industry, livestock breeding centers, animal breeding centers, animal quarantine, zoos, cooperatives, and even government agencies. (MHT/Rz) (IAAS/SHY)