Critical need for a revolution in agricultural research (Agriterra)

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http://www.agriterra.org/en/news/57372/global-forum-on-agricultural-research

Global Forum on Agricultural Research

 

There is a critical need for a revolution in agricultural research for development, to mobilize, reorient, strengthen and bring coherence to systems generating and sharing new knowledge around the world, to overcome systematic failings and efficiently lead to development outcomes for the poor. The Asian Federation of Information Technology Associations (AFITA) has held its international conference on the theme “Quality Information for Competitive Agricultural Based Production Systems and Commerce”. The conference has been organised by the Indonesian Society for Agricultural Information at Institute Pertanian Bogor International Centre, Bogor, Indonesia. More than 60 papers, including keynote and invited, are being presented at the conference in addition to two workshops on ICT adoption in agriculture and agribusiness and sensor networks.

The theme of the conference is of high importance to Asia as its agriculture is emerging rapidly as a commercial enterprise. The conference has emphasized the intensive use of high quality information and use of advanced information and communications technology (ICTs) to support various critical business processes in agriculture based production systems and commerce. The papers being presented at the conference cover a range of ICT application in agriculture from those needed for and by small holder producers to advanced data management and processing through neural and sensor networks, modelling and simulation. The innovative use of mobile and handheld computing and communication devices was predominant in the presentations. Some presentations, especially from Japanese scientists and innovators, showed how small holder farmers can benefit from highly “informationalized” and “automated” production systems through use of ICT enabled decision support tools, applications and machinery and foretold of the future to come.

While opening the conference, the Minister of Agriculture of Republic of Indonesia in his message highlighted the challenges to agricultural production in Indonesia. These echoed the challenges such as of ensuring food and nutritional security of its people, reducing poverty, meeting the challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity, spread of transboundary diseases etc. as discussed at the Asia-Pacific Regional Consultations and GCARD. In his keynote address, Professor Seishi Ninomiya of University of Tokyo, highlighted the acceleration of agricultural research due to use of ICT explaining its use in genomics and simulation through high powered, super computers. Another keynote dealt with “Counter Knowledge” or how information can be misused, if not with appropriate checks, in developing and implementing policies and strategies especially in the push towards market oriented agriculture.

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