The Community Service and Empowerment Program (KKN-PPM) Period II 2025 of Universitas Gadjah Mada was successfully carried out by one of the Agricultural Microbiology students of the 2022 cohort, Ilyasa Ilham, for 50 days from June 20 to August 8, 2025 in Silaut Subdistrict, Pesisir Selatan Regency, West Sumatra. KKN-PPM is a compulsory course that enables students to directly apply their academic knowledge within society. Through this program, students are encouraged to live among the community while making tangible contributions to both the prevention and resolution of local challenges.
Most of the Silaut area is used for oil palm plantations, making palm oil the main agricultural commodity. In addition, Silaut Subdistrict is home to diverse ethnicities, religions, and cultures, as it was one of the government’s designated transmigration sites. This diversity became one of the main reasons for implementing KKN-PPM UGM 2025 in Silaut. Thus, respecting differences has become an important value in community life, and such diversity should not be a barrier to collaboration.
Together with the KKN-PPM Silaut Bertaut 2025 Team, Ilyasa helped organize the major flagship program, the Silaut Harmony Festival. The festival featured a fun walk, health check-ups, and an exhibition showcasing the student’s work programs. Ilyasa exhibited several microbiology-based projects, including organic fertilizer derived from oil palm waste with Trichoderma sp. biocontrol innovation, nutrient-dense nuggets enriched with prebiotics and probiotics, oyster and straw mushroom growing media made from oil palm waste, and microbiology educational posters for children.
Thanks to the support and participation of all layers of the community, the program was successfully accomplished. Without such support, neither the work programs nor the festival could have run effectively. However, as one of the committee members of a large-scale festival, Ilyasa realized that effective communication, teamwork, and collaboration—both within the team and with the wider community—were key factors to success.
Overall, the work programs implemented during the KKN-PPM UGM activities supported the community in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 15: Life on Land.