Training and Operational Briefing of Candlenut Processing Machines at the Bumdes Office in Pakuwan Village, Lombok Barat.

ITS Campus, ITS News – Indonesia is a country with abundance of natural resource wealth compared to other countries. To take advantage of this natural wealth, the Community Service team (Abmas) and the Community Service (KKN) team from the Industrial Mechanical Engineering Department, Vocational Faculty, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) helped design a machine to process candlenut into candlenut oil.

Testing the candlenut processing machine that turns candlenut into candlenut oil, designed by the KKN and Abmas team of ITS students.

This Appropriate Technology was designed by the Abmas and KKN team consisting of eight students guided by Dedy Zulhidayat Noor ST MT PhD and implemented in Pakuan Village, Narmada District, West Lombok. The eight students are Fitra Bagus Hendi Prabowo, Ngurah Gatot Saguna Wijaya, Mohamad Tedi Prasetiyo, Aditya Yoga Eka Nugraha, Diego Surya Dewangga, Wahyu Dwi Putranto, Rahmad Rahardian Dias Affandi, and Amirah Cetta Elysia.

Aditya Yoga Eka Nugraha, one of the community service teams, said that Pakuan Village has abundant plant resources of candlenut seeds that have not been optimally utilized. It is known that the price of whole nutmeg seeds sold by farmers is in the range of IDR 10,000 to 20,000.

Handover of Tools and Operational Training for Candlenut Machines from the ITS KKN and Abmas Teams. 

“If both the candlenut of which shell has been separated  and also the candlenut oil can be sold, farmers will get more profit by optimally utilizing natural resources,” he said.

Furthermore, the student who is familiarly called Yoga said that the tool for processing candlenut seeds into hazelnut oil was made with the concept of a manufacturing process. The advantage of this tool is that it can split large quantities of candlenut seeds at once with the results that can be processed directly into hazelnut oil. “This tool has been tested first before sending it to Pakuan Village,” he explained.

Products of the Processed Candlenut made with the machine designed by the Abmas and KKN ITS students.

The tool development activity that has been made for four months is continued with the socialization of instructions for use. After the tool arrived in Pakuan Village, the farmers immediately used it. “Some have even received orders since the product was offered sales have entered the online market,” said the young man who is also a member of the ITS Nogogeni team.

According to Yoga, the people of Pakuan Village welcome the presence of this candlenut nut crusher. They hope to increase village income and also develop Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for candlenut seed farmers in Pakuan Village. The farmers also said that they hoped that this tool would be commercialized in more quantity soon.

KKN and Abmas Team for Industrial Mechanical Engineering Students, ITS’s Vocational Faculty.

Finally, Yoga on behalf of the ITS Abmas team said that with this candlenut seed processing tool it is hoped that it can be used properly by all existing farmers. “Hopefully, this tool can be a way to help improve the standard of living and economy of farmers through processing superior commodities,” he concluded hopefully. (sin/far/ITS Public Relations)

Group photo after the Training and Operational Briefing of Candlenut Processing Machine at the Bumdes Office of Pakuwan Village, West Lombok.