Through the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) held an international workshop on “Implementation of Smart Farming Innovation Technologies in the 4.0 era to Strengthen the Food Crop Production for Sustainable Food Security”. The workshop was carried out virtually using the Zoom meeting application on Tuesday (07/09).
Dr. Ir. Fadjry Djufry, M.Si. (Director General of Agricultural Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Agriculture) was present as the keynote speaker. Meanwhile, the invited speakers are Mr. Gwo-Jong Moh (Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF)); Dr. Akhmad Faqih (Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, IPB); Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Moh. Aris Marfai, S.Si., M.Sc., (Geospatial Information Agency-BIG); and Prof. Josaphat Tetuko Sri Sumantyo (Department of Electrical Engineering, Sebelas Maret University).
Prof. Dr. Ir. As the Chief Executive, Yunus Musa, M.Sc., said, this activity is expected to be a forum for scientific development and information exchange in agriculture. The topic of smart agricultural technology and innovation is necessary for the era of society 4.0 based on information technology.
The activity was officially opened by the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Prof. dr. Nasrum Massi, Ph.D. In his speech, he expressed his appreciation for the activity that brought many domestic and international speakers. This opens up opportunities for broader discussion and networking. Furthermore, this activity is expected to have an impact on the increasing international reputation of Unhas.
“Unhas has won several achievements, both internationally and nationally, one of which is the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking of SDG’s which places Unhas at 79th in the world and 2nd in Indonesia. In the QS World University Ranking, Unhas also managed to rank 1001- 1200 world and 8-12 Indonesia,” explained Prof. Nasrum.
Dr. Ir. Fadjry Djufry, M.Sc., as the keynote speaker, explained the role of the Ministry of Agriculture in supporting the optimization of agricultural productivity. Indonesia’s agricultural target is to develop independent and modern agriculture. Various general policies were issued to achieve the target, such as increased production and productivity, low-cost agricultural management, and agriculture mechanization and research to support the national economy’s recovery.
“Strategic efforts for agricultural development continue to be optimized. The strategy is packaged in five concrete actions: increasing production capacity, diversifying local food sources, strengthening food reserves and logistics systems, developing modern agriculture, and the triple export movement,” explained Fadjry.
Furthermore, he said that smart farming integrates three technology-based elements: information systems, precision technology, and cyber-physical systems.
The three elements of technology collaborate in a smart farming system to achieve optimal and sustainable results. The salient factor in developing and managing smart agriculture is that smart farming is not just about hardware technology—however, other systems such as human capacity, software, and infrastructure.
After the presentation by Dr. Fajry, then other speakers took turns presenting their topics. The number of participants involved was approximately 500 people; all participants came from various institutions and universities with different backgrounds.
Kumara Tungga Dewa, S.S.
Editor : Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
