Faperta IPB University Signed a Partnership Agreement with the Research Center for Plantations (Puslitbang Perkebunan)

The Faculty of Agriculture (Faperta) of IPB University and the Center for Plantation Research and Development, Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia signed a Partnership Agreement for education, research and community service, especially in plantation commodities. The agreement was signed in the Meeting Room of Faperta, Dramaga Campus of IPB (20/19).

Dr. Suwardi, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of IPB University, welcomed this collaboration to strengthen and improve the quality of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education that could ultimately enhance the reputation of IPB University.

The Head of Puslitbang Perkebunan, Ir Syafaruddin, PhD, said the purpose of the collaboration was to follow up the collaboration between Faperta IPB and the Research and Development Center.

The challenges and opportunities of plantations are now increasing along with the rising number of populations in Indonesia. Regarding population, Indonesia currently occupies the 4th position in the world with a population of 268 million.

Another challenge is the scale of agricultural business in Indonesia is less than 0.5 hectares and the farmers still work on irregular jobs to meet the needs of their family. “In Indonesia, agriculture is still in stage 1.0, there are still many farmers using shovel and buffalo for plowing the fields. So it is hard to scale up,” he said.

To meet agriculture 4.0, farmers must be able to connect with technology-based applications such as autonomous tractors that can be controlled remotely, irrigation in greenhouses that can be controlled using mobile phones, besides that digitalization of agriculture can also be applied by using drones to plant and water.
He also revealed technological innovations in palm oil commodities in Indonesia are still ranked number one in the world. However, it is a different case with coffee. Coffee productivity in Indonesia is currently declining and ranked 4th.

“To overcome this, innovation in plantation technology is needed. Now we have a superior variety of liberika coffee, an adaptive blend of arabica and robusta in tidal peatlands such as in Riau and Jambi. Then we also have superior varieties of Robusta coffee that is resistant to dry season in Lampung and superior varieties of cocoa that are tolerant to drought in the city of Padang,” concluded the Head of Balitbangtan.

Keyword: IPB Faperta, plantation, coffee, oil palm, cocoa