Indonesia "Needs to Enter Era of Biotech" Says Government Savants

To the question "Can Biotechnology Help Strengthen the Food Production Program?", government savants led by Dr. Achmad Suryana, head of Indonesia's  Food Security Program under the Department of Agriculture (DA), were one in saying "yes"  during a workshop held at the DA in Jakarta. The workshop attended by participants from various government departments and media practitioners, sought to get the viewpoints of a socio-economist, a scientist, and a representative from the food industry.

Suryana discussed the global situation with regard biotechnology and how developing countries like Indonesia needed to benefit from the gains brought about by the technology. Dr. Bustanul Arifin, a senior economist from INDEF Jakarta, stressed that "Sooner or later, Indonesia should adopt biotechnology crops as food sufficiency is becoming a major concern with population growth increasing significantly while rice production growth is pegged only at at 0.5% per year." Thomas Darmawan of the food industry in Indonesia, noted that this sector is dependent on raw material which they process into various products. Biotechnology is a key technology, he said, that can bridge the gap in meeting the needs of industry.  To prove that the public sector is engaged in biotechnology, Dr. Muhammad Herman of Biogen discussed the local initiatives that research organizations are doing to increase crop productivity.

For more information about the workshop email Dr. Bambang Purwantara (b.purwantara@biotrop.org) of the Indonesia Biotechnology Information Center which co-sponsored the event with other partners.