By:

• Idham Malik (WWF-Indonesia's Aquaculture Officer)
• Zulkarnain (Local Facilitator of WWF-Indonesia's AIP Program, Pinrang)

In late September 2016, 30 shrimp farmers filled the Tasiwali'e Village Office in Suppa Sub-district, Pinrang Regency, South Sulawesi. They gathered to attend the 6th Pond School of Lowita Minapolitan Area, Pinrang. Dr. Ir. Khusnul Yaqin, M.Sc., an ecotoxicologist from Hasanuddin University, was the speaker for this school. The theme raised was 'Pond Pollution, Pesticides, and the Efficacy of Kascing Fertilizer'.

The theme is in accordance with the needs of farmers who several times complained of crop failure. This is due to the weak carrying capacity of the land and disease attacks. A decrease in the carrying capacity of pond land can be caused by the following four things:

1. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers;
2. Excessive use of chemical pesticides;
3. Inappropriate use of antibiotics; and
4. Excessive use of artificial feed, which ultimately pollutes the environment.

Cascading Fertilizer as a Solution

It's not called Pond School if we only stop at the problem. Khusnul Yaqin offers a solution to increase the carrying capacity of the land by utilizing organic fertilizer plus derived from worm castings (Cascing) or vermicompost on pond land.

Cascing fertilizer is considered appropriate to replace chemical fertilizers because of its complete macro and micro elements. The content of C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Al, Na, Cu, Zn, and Bo in this fertilizer is good for growth, digestive improvement, and body immunity. Cascing fertilizer also contains growth hormones, namely gibberellins, cytokinins, and auxins.

How to make kascing fertilizer is very easy, with materials that can be obtained around the house and cultivation site. The main ingredients are cow dung earthworms that have been dried for 2-3 days, and banana fronds.

The composition between the worms and the medium is 1:1. If the worms are five kilograms, it means that in one day the worms eat and produce five kilograms of manure. Provide a large amount of cultivation media, so that the maintenance of worms can last a long time and produce a large number of cascing as well. A sign that the worms like the cultivation media is when they go directly into the cultivation media.

As a first step, cascing fertilizer can be made in a farmer group scheme. After that, implement the use of cascing fertilizer with a pilot pond scheme or group demonstration plot (Demplot). Each stage of cultivation in the demonstration plot is then discussed regularly in regular group meetings. When cascing has been proven to improve pond soil quality, farmers can make their own and apply it to their respective ponds.

By producing their own cascing fertilizer, farmers no longer need to buy chemical fertilizers. The improvement of the pond land will also increase the productivity of cultivation in the form of a much larger harvest than before. This means that cascing fertilizer is a solution to increase farmers' income.