On Saturday (17/10)Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta hosted the National Peragi (Indonesian Agronomy Association) Seminar with the theme “The Role of PERAGI in Strengthening Innovation and Millennial Farmers to Realize Tough and Competitive Agriculture”. The activity, which was held through Youtube and Zoom channels, was attended by 331 participants. Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia Dr. H. Syahrul Yasin Limpo, S.H, M.H was also present to open the event which took place at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta.
In his opening remarks, Syahrul Yasin Limpo said that PERAGI and the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture have good relations, so a national seminar like this is very important to do. “PERAGI and the Ministry of Agriculture have a good relationship. PERAGI also has an important role in the agricultural sector, Therefore I hope to be able to work together to see the existing problems so that in the future, we can progress to becoming more advanced, and be more modern, “he said.
Syahrul Yasin Limpo also invited PERAGI to work together to create agriculture as a main pillar to support the welfare of people’s lives. On this occasion, the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture also shared some of his achievements, including increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in agriculture by 16.24 percent, and increasing export value to 20.84 percent. “In the midst of this pandemic, being able to reach that figure is extraordinary. When other sectors decline, agriculture becomes a pillar during the pandemic, so to be able to continue to maintain and improve this achievement, we need to work together so that our work has meaning, “said Syahrul Yasin Limpo again.
In accordance with the theme, agronomic crop cultivation technology innovation is needed to build strong and competitive agriculture. Innovation and competitive spirit are the keys and main assets for the nation to achieve food independence and sovereignty. To be able to achieve better food independence and sovereignty in Indonesia, the role of millennial farmers is needed. “To achieve food independence and sovereignty, we depend on responsive, creative, and accelerative farmers, and these attributes should be owned by young farmers or millennial farmers. Therefore PERAGI held this annual seminar as a way of commemorating Peragi’s 43rd birthday, “said Dr. Ir. Gatot Supangkat, M.P., IPM Chairman of the National Seminar Committee.
The National Seminar which was held as a medium for excavating and disseminating agricultural technology innovations, socio-cultural and economic engineering. Apart from being a media, this seminar aims to gather information on socio-cultural and economic technology which will later be disseminated and can create competitive agriculture. In addition, PERAGI’s national seminar was also introduced to the profiles of young millennial farmers who shared their experiences in managing comparative and competitive businesses in agriculture. “The results of this seminar will be conveyed to stakeholders in the agricultural sector with the hope that they can be used as consideration for making decisions about agriculture in the future,” added Gatot.
The theme of this seminar is also important because Indonesia as an agricultural country has the opportunity to promote the agricultural sector. “This is an important theme for now and in the future when Indonesia wants to increase its role as an agricultural country. In the future, there are two decisive factors, namely innovation and millennial farmers. Millennials and innovation cannot be separated because millennials always have fresh innovations, “said Prof. Dr. Ir. Andi Muhammad Syakir, M.S, the General Chairman of PERAGI. In addition to increasing innovation, the important thing that must be improved is increasing export value and improving people’s welfare. “A lot of poverty is present from the farmers, even though there are a lot of food fields that can be cultivated. The reason is that there must be reforms so that they can compete and lift the economy,” added Andi.
As the host of the Seminar, UMY Rector Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto, M.P., IPM expressed his gratitude to the committee. “I am very grateful because they have trusted UMY as the host of this national seminar. Hopefully, the results of this seminar can produce a strong and highly competitive agricultural generation, because when our food is resilient, the generation that is created will also be a strong generation, a great nation is a nation that is not dependent on natural resources but human resources that are highly competitive, “concluded Gunawan. (hbb)
