BEM Agriculture throughout Indonesia Followed AYLC in Bogor
Indonesian Association of Student Executive Board of Agriculture (IBEMPI) held Agriculture Youth Leader Camp (AYLC) on 12-14 February 2015 in Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). The opening ceremony which took place in Auditorium Andi Hakim Nasoetion Campus of IPB Dramaga Bogor was officially opened by Dean of Faculty of Agriculture of IPB, Dr Ernan Rustiadi.
In his speech Dr Ernan conveyed that the food was not the usual stuff, but it was the political goods that could not be treated as commodities in general, even with other agricultural products. “Food has a resistance value of the nation. One of the principal elements of the resilience of nation is the food security,” he said.
Further Dr Ernan called a paradigm shift in agriculture. According to him, the farmer in the future was no longer as a last option, but the farmer in the future was the entrepreneur farmer, educated farmer. And becoming farmer was the promising profession. “Therefore it is needed human beings who are educated, especially with farm backgrounds. Food issues ahead will be even greater, the food is becoming increasingly expensive commodity, that is an opportunity for us,” he explained.
This kind of training, explained Dr Ernan, was the event to foster the student’s leadership in agriculture. “We desperately need a strong leadership from the younger generation who has a background in agriculture. And this is one way to shape the future leaders,” he added.
This series of activities was opened with the national seminar with the theme of “Arah Kebijakan, Program, dan Peran Pemerintah, DPR RI, serta Akademisi di Era Pemerintahan Jokowi-JK dalam Mewujudkan Kedaulatan Pangan / Direction of Policy, Program, and Role of Government, DPR RI, and Academics in the Era of Jokowi-JK Government in Achieving the Food Sovereignty”. In this session, the ones invited as the speakers, among others were from Ministry of Agriculture of RI, members of DPR RI, academics, entrepreneurs to humanitarian organizations.
According to Mirzha Ramadhana Putra as the chairman of the committee, the event which was followed by at least of 14 BEM Agriculture throughout Indonesia aimed to broaden the students about agriculture. Aside from that it was to train the students in the field of entrepreneurship and social care.
Series of AYLC was followed by a book review and discussion, and the training of Search and Rescue (SAR) in Air Anvil of Atang Sanjaya Bogor. Then a series of events were covered by the training of dragon fruit and papaya calina cultivation in Sabisa Farm of IPB. (AS)
