Public Lecture of Dr. Roger Beachy at IPB

Agricultural sector in Indonesia is still considered not significantly developed in terms of the production of rice, corn, soybeans and wheat, and Indonesia still relies on the imported products to meet the domestic demands. This was  expressed by the Vice Rector for Resources and Development, Prof. Dr. Ir. Hermanto Siregar in the reception of Dr. Roger Beachy, the emeritus professor of Biotechnology on Food Science and Technology from The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The reception was held at the Rector’ meeting room, Darmaga Campus, on 26 July 2011. 

The objectives of the visit to Bogor Agricultural University was to explore any possibilities  to establish international cooperation on the utilization of biotechnology for the agricultural productivity. According to Dr. Beachy nearly 915 (nine hundred fifteen) billion of the world’s population will experience a food crisis. Further, he said that there are five important challenges for the current world population, namely food safety, food security, nutrition and health, bioenergy and biomaterials, and the climate change as well. 

Moreover, Dr. Beachy stated that his visit to Indonesia, especially Bogor Agricultural University was to improve the agricultural productivity in an effort to address global challenges, as well as to enhance food security for millions of malnourished people in developing countries.

Dr. Roger doesn’t support the utilization of pesticides to increase agricultural productivity. "Agricultural biotechnology will automatically reduce the use of pesticides for plant productivity. Pesticides are considered highly hazardous for human health and will also have an impact on climate change," he stated.
 
After delivering his Public Lectures, Dr. Beachy and the team visited the Seafast Center, Center for the Surfactant and Bioenergy on Campus Baranang Siang, and ICDF or Taiwan Technical Mission, Agribusiness Development Centre (Wied)