Unlike the previous two Field Work Practice (PKL) activities, which focused on poverty, the 2018/2019 Academic Year's Field Work Practice (PKL) focused on agricultural research using the Area Sample Frame (ASF) method. This method, a new one implemented by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in 2018 to estimate harvested area, replaced the previous method, which was deemed no longer relevant. Therefore, the Field Work Practice (PKL) Team from the Politeknik Statistika (Polstat) STIS needed to delve deeper into the history of ASF, the stages of ASF-based surveys, and the reporting of survey results.

In preparation, the Polstat STIS Field Work Practice Team met with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), the developer of the ASF method, on Thursday (November 29). The meeting, held in the Polstat STIS Senate Meeting Room, was attended by the KSA-BPPT Team, including Ir. Heri Sadmono, M.Sc., Ir. Lena Sumargana, M.T., and Ir. Swasetyo Yulianto. The team provided a detailed explanation of the KSA to the STIS Polstat PKL Team, which consisted of representatives from lecturers and students.

Heri Sadmono explained that the KSA has gone through several stages of development since the early 1990s, starting with the use of optical satellites and radar, and finally the development of point-based KSA. Lena Sumargana added that the roadmap for the KSA implementation test has been underway for the past three years. In 2015, trials were conducted in Indramayu and Garut Regencies, resulting in estimates of harvested area down to the sub-district level. Furthermore, in 2016, the trial was planned to be expanded to cover all regencies/cities in West Java Province. However, due to various reasons, this activity was canceled. The trial resumed in 2017, covering all provinces on Java Island except Jakarta. Finally, in 2018, based on an official letter from the Presidential Staff Office, the KSA was designated as a national method for measuring harvested area (applied in all provinces in Indonesia). Lena Sumargana also explained the technical stages of implementing a harvested area survey using the KSA method, including introducing the rice growth phases that field officers must identify. In her subsequent presentation, Swasetyo Yulianto explained the application and technical aspects of data recording for field officers, data submission procedures, and calculation of observation results.

The training provided by the KSA-BPPT Team is expected to broaden the knowledge of the STIS Polstat Field Workers Team, enabling them to prepare for the field work more thoroughly. Furthermore, it is hoped that the field work planned for Bali Province will not only apply existing techniques but will also lead to new breakthroughs to produce better KSA-based harvested area estimates in the future.