Regional Conference is a bottom-up process that involves Alumni Association officers from various regions, discussing prioritized selected issues. This time, the Regional Conference discussed innovation and biological technology in supporting food security.

Chairman of IAITB, Gembong Primadjaja said that the discussion of food security issues through regional conferences can break down the food security problems and solve them with a brief policy that is ready to be used by the Indonesian Government to maintain national food security.

Meanwhile, the Head of LPKSDA (Alumni Resource and Policy Control Agency) of IAITB, Basar Simanjutak hopes that the result of the regional conference can be a starting point to further understanding and act in overcoming the food crisis.

The first speaker was Dr. Ir Suwandhi as the Director General of Food Crops in the Ministry of Agriculture. Food security, based on Law No. 11 of 2020 on Job Creation, is a condition of food fulfillment for the country up to individuals, which is reflected in the availability of sufficient food, both in number and quality, safely diverse, nutritious, equitable, and affordable, and not contrary to the religion, beliefs, and culture of the community, to live healthy, active, and productive in a sustainable manner.

Food security is very important so that the nation can be independent. Future food challenges are currently the national economic recovery of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as increasing production capacity and diversifying local food in several ways of action.

Glory H. Sihombing, the Conservation Director of PT Agrinas, became the second speaker. He explained that the current food situation is shown by the increase in consumption of wheat flour as an alternative carbohydrate source followed by a decrease in rice consumption. This can increase the potential and risk of a food security crisis in the form of an embargo because it is increasingly dependent on imports. Therefore, the substitution of flour raw material commodities is needed so as not to depend on other countries.

A commodity that has the potential to be a substitute for flour is cassava – easy to grow, has many derivative products, all parts of it are economically valuable, and the yield value is much higher than rice--through mocaf (modified cassava flour).

The third speaker was Ir. Junter Marbun as the Head of The Humbang Hasundutan District Agriculture Office as well as the local government that handles food estates that focus on horticultural products.

The implementation of food estate is assisted by Presidential Decree No. 109 of 2020 which facilitates the program to increase the national food supply (food estate). Some food commodities that remain fulfilled through imports are due to unsuitable local agro climate and the productivity of agricultural products has not been optimal due to the limitations of domestic agricultural technology.

There are four main components of food estate development, namely as a partner of landowner farmer, the government in charge of providing permits, clearing land, building irrigation infrastructure and agricultural access roads, as well as facilitating agriculture for mechanization and digitization, off-taker as a companion and extension of farmers in every certain area, as well as research centers and universities that develop technology and innovation.

The follow-up will be in the form of alignment of the division of tasks between stakeholders, identification of the types of crops in food estates that has high economic value and are suitable with agro climatic conditions so farmers can have a market certainty, efforts to improve the farmer’s welfare through operational cost efficiency and increase crop productivity, and government efforts to socialize food estate development to the community.

Reporter: Najma Shafiya (Teknologi Pascapanen, 2020)
Translator: Aghisna Syifa R (Biologi, 2020)
Photo: freepik