Potatoes are the main agricultural crop in Bayongbong District, Indonesia. In Dusun Kamojang, potato seeds of the G0 variety are bred. This process uses cocopeat as a planting medium; a multi purpose growing medium made out of coconut husk. This medium cannot be reused for potato seedling without going through a sterilization process.
The sterilization process that is usually done by farmers is by conventional steaming. Innovation is carried out by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) not only in its core business but also to contribute to the surrounding community. The innovative use of geothermal steam for the cocopeat sterilization process has proven to be very helpful for farmers. It saves on the cost of buying new cocopeat or conventional fuel for steaming cocopeat in the potato seed production process.
As a result, the yield of G0 potato seeds increased significantly. From the initial average, it can only produce 22,000 to 30,000 knol of potato seeds from 7,000 plant cuttings to 28,000 to 35,000 knol of potato seeds from the same number of plant cuttings after using geothermal steam in the cocopeat sterilization process.
