Cooperation vital for agricultural research<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday called on
\nagricultural researchers from around the world to work together
\nto find ways to meet the increasing demand for agricultural and
\nforestry products.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the opening of a mid-term meeting of the
\nConsultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
\nyesterday, Soeharto said that increasing agricultural and
\nforestry productivity was becoming imperative and should be
\npushed forward by technological progress.<\/p>\n
\"But finding new technologies like these requires time-
\nconsuming research, lots of experts and large amounts of money.
\nThus, in order to make this more efficient and effective, it is
\nimportant that research centers at the national and international
\nlevels cooperate,\" he told the meeting at the Merdeka Palace
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Soeharto added that technology transfer was also a crucial
\naspect since developing countries had limited resources to
\npromote research.<\/p>\n
The four-day meeting, hosted by the Ministry of Forestry's
\nResearch and Development Agency, will focus on evaluating and
\nassessing CGIAR's programs over the past year.<\/p>\n
CGIAR, which involves both the government and private sector,
\nstudies ways to increase natural resource productivity, maintain
\nbiological diversity and promote technology transfers.<\/p>\n
Established in 1970, it oversees 17 research agencies,
\nincluding the West Java-based Center for International Forestry
\nResearch (CIFOR), the International Rice Research Institute
\n(IRRI) and the International Center for Research into Agro-
\nforestry.<\/p>\n
CIFOR's headquarters in Bogor, West Java, was established in
\n1992, but was officially opened belatedly by Minister of Forestry
\nDjamaludin Suryohadikusumo on Monday.<\/p>\n
CIFOR has research projects in the tropical rain-forests of
\nSouth America, Asia and Africa. In Indonesia, it conducts
\nresearch on 300,000 hectares of forest area in the Kayan
\nMentarang region of East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Help<\/p>\n
For the current (1996\/97) fiscal year, the Ministry of
\nForestry has contributed US$500,000 towards CIFOR's operations:
\n$200,000 is Indonesia's contribution to the agency, while
\n$300,000 is to be used by local researchers and CIFOR scientists
\nfor studying research methods.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said yesterday that Indonesia had been given lots of
\nhelp by national and international research centers over the past
\ndecades. In the 1970s, he said, Indonesia's rice crops were hit by a
\nplague caused by plant-hoppers, but were rescued by a new plague-
\nresistant variety of rice developed by the Philippines-based
\nIRRI.<\/p>\n
\"IRRI made a large donation of high-quality rice varieties and
\nagricultural machinery. It also introduced new rice-cultivation
\ntechnologies, integrated pest management methods and post-harvest
\ntechnologies,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
\"The new seeds and technologies allowed Indonesia to gain
\nself-sufficiency in rice in 1984,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Soeharto affirmed that the agricultural sector would remain an
\nimportant field of development in spite of the country's fast-
\ngrowing industrial sector and the government's target of shifting
\nIndonesia's development basis from an agricultural to an industrial one.<\/p>\n
\"We will still rely on the agricultural sector to provide food
\nfor our 200 million-strong population as well as raw material for
\nour developing industries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also noted the importance of Indonesia's forests as a
\nsource of germ plasma, a water catchment area and as the earth's
\n\"lungs\".<\/p>\n
Indonesia's tropical rainforests are the world's third largest
\nafter Brazil and Zaire. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cooperation-vital-for-agricultural-research-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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