Campus Orientation for New Students (MPKMB): Agricultural Graduates to Become Farmers
Dozens of students flocked swiftly to the stage on the opening of the discussion session on the Talk Show of Campus Orientation for New Students with the topic of Indonesia Agricultural Innovation. The event was held in the graduation building Graha Widya Wisuda IPB, 12/8. Students seemed enthusiastic to ask various questions to the former (2004 – 2009) Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Ir. Anton Apriyantono.
Earlier the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ir Suswono, also a keynote speaker in the Student Orientation Program for Batch 48, said that the world food crisis will increase every year, so we have to position the agricultural as a very important and urgent sector to ensure the food supply.
Currently Indonesia is heading for self-sufficiency in rice, corn and soybeans, sugar and beef through 2014, thus for its success we have to manage a lot of things related to the competitiveness of agricultural commodities.
"It is the students who are expected to be able to answer it. Further Dr. Suswono says that people have no doubts that IPB graduates are capable of working in various fields of work, but must also prove that their main competence is in agriculture ".
It does not matter if IPB graduates become journalists or bankers, but should contribute to Indonesia’s agriculture.
The graduates who become journalists should participate in writing the information related to agriculture, and those who become bankers should be able to provide facilities for the agricultural business loans.
Dr. Anton adds that 70% of Indonesian farmers have completed only primary school education or even not finished it. So Dr. Anton wondered how it has been possible that Indonesia only rely on farmers of elementary school graduates for the food need. In contrast, Dr. Anton pointed out that in Australia a cotton farmer is a university graduate and agricultural land cultivation uses technology.
For this reason, Dr. Anton hopes that the agricultural graduates would like to become farmers because 40 million hectares of farmland in Indonesia requires innovation. (Mtd)
