ICONIA 2020: Bringing Cross Country Sustainable Agriculture Industry Ideas
The Center of Agrotechnology Universitas Gadjah Mada (PIAT UGM) held the international conference again on Thursday (3/12). The conference was entitled The 1st International Conference of Industrial Agriculture (ICONIA) which carried the theme Managing Crisis in Industrial Agriculture: Way Forward. This event was held in one day, and involving four partners of higher educational institution which are Gardening Polytechnic LPP of Yogyakarta, Janabadra University, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta (UPNVY), and Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University.
Dr. Ir. Taryono, the chief of PIAT UGM, explained that the event was going to be held this early year and was prepared to be held last July. He said that because of this COVID-19 Pandemy the event was delayed and rescheduled in order to fulfill our requirements. The urgency to achieve the goal, which is encouraging researchers and practitioners to formulate the regulation of industrial agriculture.
The conference was finally held via Zoom online meeting, which was divided into two sessions. The first session was held in the morning that accommodated 4 presenters. The presenters are Roland Schafleitner, Ph.D (Vegetable DIversity and Improvement Headquarters, World Vegetable Center), Dr. Guilherme Rosi Machado Junior MS (G. Rossi Consultoria E. Representacoes SC LTDA), Prof. Bunyamin Tar’an Ph.D (University of Saskatchewan), and Dr. Benisiu Thomas (Namibia University).
Then, each presenter presented the sub-theme of this conference respectively. Roland Schafleitner as the first presenter explained that the existence of the World Vegetable Center is to study and develop the vegetable’s potential in order to establish a healthier and stronger life. In 1971, the extent of the study was only limited to the Asia region. For now, they have a global extent. The extent’s broadening was not limited by the industrial agriculture’s crisis. “There are four steps in overcoming this like improved varietiesm, agroecological intensification, functioning markets, and conducive policies,” He said. He added that it is also needed the participation of farmers in this agroecological approach in plants production study.
Dr. Guilherme Rosi in the next session gave the successful example of Brazil in the development of the cane plant’s continual cultivation which was focused on three important aspects. The aspects are the cultivation method, plant’s management, and involving environmental ecological function. The help of biotechnological equipment is used to analyze the disease of cane plants. The next presenter is Prof. Bunyamin Tar’an, Ph.D told the trend which emerged in Canada. The trend is to develop a protein-based plant because of the advice to live healthily. The motto, “eat well, live well”, is seen through the suggested portion of a meal which is a half plate of vegetables and fruits, a quarter of protein and carbohydrate. This success was achieved through a long step of background knowledge, application methods, consumer’s acceptance, until the development to production for commercialization. Meanwhile, in Namibia, according to Dr. Benisiu Thomas, this country had already an awareness of the political will for developing an agricultural product processing industry. It is because of the government’s awareness of the fact that the people’s living is 70% dominated by the agricultural industry and also the source of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) while giving the people’s work to cut the poverty rate.
For the final session, Hendri Rantau, S.T., M.Eng as the moderator summed up the conference’s presentations. “In order to achieve the balance between the agricultural industry and continual, we need methods and the synergy from each aspect. The people were expected to try the healthy lifestyle by taking the advantage of agricultural products to sustain the continuity of natural resources”.
The second session continued with the parallel session of the latest research presentation in relation with the latest issues of the agricultural industry. For a total 28 papers had successfully presented by the researcher in ICONIA. Later on, the paper would be published in the Iconia Prosiding which would be published by IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science and indexed Scopus. This parallel session was divided into 4 breakout rooms which are, Room 1 which is dedicated to the Genetic Resources Utilization research, Modern Agriculture, and Post Harvest Agriculture. Room 2 and 3 which are dedicated to Agricultural Socio Economic research, and Room 4 which is dedicated to Agriculture Waste Management and Crops Production technology research.
