On that occasion, training and mentoring were also conducted on sugar production technology to produce palm sugar, ant sugar, and liquid sugar with quality according to SNI standards, training on nurseries for palm trees and other fruit plants, and training on website development for product promotion and marketing.

Lecturers from the Faculty of Agriculture at the Universitas Sumatera Utara provided assistance in developing the business of Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School through palm processing. The activity is included in the community service program chaired by Prof Dr Ir Elisa Julianti, M.Si, from the Food Technology Study Program of the Faculty of Agriculture and consists of Dr Ir T Irmansyah, MP, from the Agrotechnology Study Program and RB Moh Ibrahim Fatoni, S.Pi, MP from the Agribusiness Study Program.

The community service that took place in September 2024 also involved 3 students of the Food Technology Study Program. The activity was funded by the Directorate of Research Technology and Community Service (DRTPM) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia through the 2024 Community Partnership Program (PkM) scheme. The partner in this community service activity is Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School led by Ustadz Khairul Ghazali, located in Dusun IV Sei Mencirim Village, Kutalimbaru District, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, which is engaged in education, social and da'wah, in accordance with the Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights AHU-0042608.AH.01.04.Year 2016.

Pesantren Al Hidayah provides free education for all students, but until now, the Al Hidayah Foundation has only received funding assistance from the government in the form of BOS (School Operational Costs) funds, such as textbook assistance. To overcome this problem, the Al Hidayah Foundation is developing a business to be able to finance all activities at the pesantren, including paying teacher salaries, student meal costs, and other school operational costs. The existing land is utilized by the foundation to plant sugar palms and fruit crops, especially barangan bananas and durians, by implementing an organic farming system, integrated with goat raising and freshwater fish farming. Al Hidayah Foundation has a mission to develop the sugar palm business in an effort to provide free education for all students in the pesantren.

The number of palm trees currently in the Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school is 1,100, but the number of productive trees is only 30, while the rest cannot be harvested. Every day, only 10 trees are harvested, with a total nira production of 100 liters per day. The palm sugar processing has not met the standard production space for food processing. The nira processing still uses very simple equipment, which only uses a cooking stove with fuel in the form of wood and a pan to cook the nira.

The wood used as fuel comes from trees around the pesantren area. Although from a financial perspective, it is cheaper because the wood is not purchased, from an environmental perspective, the use of firewood is not very good because it can cause air pollution. In addition, processed nira products such as printed palm sugar and ant sugar are also of poor quality, including dirty products, high water content, dark color, and non-uniformity. Therefore, the community service team of the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, provided assistance for the development of aren palm processing at Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School.

The activity began with the provision of appropriate technology tools in the form of a palm sugar mixer, ant sugar drying oven, ant sugar pen, and sifter, followed by training on the use of the nira processing tools provided. On that occasion, training and mentoring on sugar production technology to produce palm sugar, ant sugar, and liquid sugar with quality according to SNI standards, training on nurseries for palm trees and other fruit plants, and training on website development for product promotion and marketing. Students involved in this activity assisted in the preparation of CPPB (Good Food Production Practices) documents for palm sugar, ant sugar, and liquid sugar products, assistance for product legalization (PIRT and Halal permits), as well as product packaging design and labels.

Ustadz Khairul Ghazali as the leader of Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School in his presentation expressed his gratitude to the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, for the knowledge provided, as well as the grant of appropriate technology tools that are expected to increase productivity and income, from the palm sap processing business at Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School.