Academic institutions told to help farmers

Academic institutions told to help farmers

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto asked higher learning
institutions yesterday to help farmers increase the quality and
quantity of their production to give them a competitive edge on
the global market.

"There is no reason why we cannot do it," he said after
inaugurating a new campus at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture
(IPB) in Dermaga, about 30 kilometers south of here.

Indonesia needs to cut down on the importation of numerous
agricultural products which are, the President said, exhausting
foreign exchange.

According to Soeharto, Indonesia, which is blessed with
abundant natural resources, should be self-reliant in commodities
that are still largely imported.

"We have to go back to the drawing board," he said in the
ceremony which was attended by senior government officials and
academics.

Indonesia has been self-reliant in rice since 1984. But lately
the government has had to import rice largely due to prolonged
dry seasons.

President Soeharto said that Indonesia should modernize its
agricultural facilities to boost production.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
Indonesia has a total of 156 schools of agriculture in both
private and state colleges.

State universities have a total of 56 schools of agriculture,
which produce about 8,000 graduates every year, while the 100
private colleges graduate an estimated 5,000 agriculture
graduates each year.

The one to eight ratio of lecturer to students in the schools
is one of the better ones compared to other university schools.
In other fields of studies, he said, the proportion is one to 12.

IPB rector Sitanala Arsyad said that the new campus was built
with financial assistance from Japan. The more than Rp 80 billion
(US$35 million) project started in 1984. (pan)