Sixth Biotech Workshop for Farmers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The sixth roadshow of biotech workshops organized by the Indonesia Biotechnology Information Center (IndoBIC) and KTNA (National Outstanding Farmer and Fisherman Association) was held in Yogyakarta on 17-18 March 2010 to build the biotech knowledge of stakeholders especially farmers, government agencies, and media, thereby accelerating biotech acceptance in Indonesia. This event was participated in by 25 farmer members of KTNA from Yogyakarta, Central Java and nearby areas.

Dr. Suranto of Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia shared his knowledge and experience on agricultural biotechnology. He considers biotechnology application as a tool that can help attain food security especially when dealing with several issues including population growth, decreased agricultural land area and plant diseases. Furthermore, he emphasized that this technology has been adopted in many industrialized countries particularly in the USA, Western Europe and several developing countries including the Philippines, India and South Africa. In addition, Ir. Winarno Tohir, head of the KTNA, said that biotechnology could answer agricultural challenges such as improved productivity with new production technologies which are more productive and efficient. He also cited that, Gorontalo, one of the provinces in Indonesia which is recording a rapid development growth because of its maize crop is already expressing willingness to conduct biotech trials.

For more information on this event email Dewi Suryani of the Indonesian Biotechnology Information Center at dewisuryani@biotrop.org.