FTI ITB Team Initiate Castor Castor Oil Production in Pajagan Village, Kab. Sumedang
The community service team from FTI ITB handed over the castor oil production unit in Pajagan Village, Sumedang Regency, on Friday, November 10 2023. The handover of this unit is part of a series of community service activities for Castor Oil Production in the Village Pajagan, Kab. Sumedang.
Jatropha kepyar, or kaliki, or castor (Ricinus communis) is a shrub that can grow wild or cultivated. The oil from the seeds is a raw material for various products for the cosmetics, personal care and lubricant industries. Even though this plant can grow well in Indonesia, Indonesia still imports 2,700 tons of castor oil per year, in crude and processed form (Central Statistics Agency, 2022).
“Since the beginning of 2023, a team of lecturers from the Faculty of Industrial Technology, especially the Bioenergy and Chemurgy Engineering Study Program, has been coordinating with local village communities regarding the production of castor kepyar oil in Pajagan Village. “Seed planting has been carried out since March 2023, with seeds obtained from the Research Institute for Sweetener and Fiber Crops (Balittas),” said Dr. Astri Nur Istyami as head of the Castor Oil Production community service team in Pajagan Village, Kab. Sumedang.
The planted castor kepyar trees will begin to produce seeds in August 2023. Next, the seeds are harvested and milked to produce crude castor kepyar oil. This oil will then be processed or refined in collaboration with the local vegetable oil processing industry, namely PT Wardani Agro Utama.
“One of the obstacles in the production of castor oil is the efficiency in harvesting the seeds and the long dry season in the cultivation process. The start of the rainy season like now is a good time to plant this tree. “We will continue planting kepyar jatropha seeds at the end of this year to produce trees with better seed quality,” said Ir. Agus Gunawan, as a representative of PT Wardani Agro Utama who was involved in the process of planting seeds and producing castor oil in Pajagan Village.
Documentation of community service activities for Kepyar Castor Oil Production in Pajagan Village, Sumedang Regency, January-November 2023.
Source: Dr. Astri Nur Istyami (Chair of the Castor Oil Production community service team in Pajagan Village, Sumedang Regency)
Source & copyright: fti.itb.ac.id
