Bogor Agricultural University Hosted 2010 AFITA International Conference
One of main problems facing the agricultural sector is the weak capacity of farmers in applying information technology. This was conveyed by Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture on Division of Information and Control System, Dr. Ir. Kaman Kaman Nainggolan in 2010 International Conference AFITA (The Asian Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture), with theme "The Quality Information for Competitive Based Agricultural Production System and Commerce” which was held at the IPB International Convention Center, Bogor, 4 October 2010. "The most important thing is how to utilize information and communication technology, to gain competitive advantage to farmers and how farmers access quickly and easily a variety of knowledge and technology to improve their productivity, said Dr. Kaman.
Dr. Setyo Pratiwi, staff of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology Bogor Agriccultural University said that “in this Conference will exchange information with the various AFITA member countries, how agricultural technology will be utilized from water management, land preparation, planting, nutrient management and harvest." Meanwhile, Chairman of the Conference Committee of AFITA 2010 who is also the president of IndonEsian Society of Agricultural Informatics (ISAI/HIPI), and the Director of Communications and Information Systems of Bogor Agricultural Univversty, Prof. Kudang Boro Seminar, expressed in this seminar that there were about 30 researchers who participated in AFITA 2010 and presented their research findings. The topic of papers presentation included agricultural economics and policy regarding ICT for agricultural development, knowledge amanagement, policy support system for agriculture and agribusiness, development of computer-based data to control the agricultural development through modeling and simulation.
AFITA International Conference 2010 was attended by delegates from a number of Asian countries including Bogor Agricultural University, Prof. Herry Suhardiyanto, and was attended by government officers and academicianss. AFITA international conference has been organized regularly since 1998 in Japan, which was resumed in 2000 in Korea, 2002 in China, and 2004 in Thailand. The 5th AFITAconference was held in China on 2006, while the 6th Conference was held in Japan, on 2008. (Wied).
