Digital technology has accelerated aggressively during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to safety restrictions and health protocols, drastic changes in the workplace, including the adoption of remote workstations, have been implemented. As consumers began to shift to e-commerce and other online platforms from traditional methods of carrying out transactions, enterprises had to be on the lookout for innovative means to cater to the public’s demand.
The same scenario is seen in the public sector, with governments across the globe laying out various initiatives to mitigate the economic impacts of the health crisis. One of these initiatives is by ramping up the ease of doing business through the implementation of new technology.
Early on, the Indonesian government has been at the fore of amplifying its digital initiatives. According to an earlier report by OpenGov Asia, the Ministry of Industry is reforming its operational models by putting a premium on technology. Under this innovative framework, the Ministry undertakes to provide technical training as part of goals to improve investments and foster human resource development through tech. This comes as a support for efforts aimed at decreasing the unemployment rate and boosting the competitiveness of human resources.
The Ministry of Agriculture is innovating along the same vein. In a statement, Agriculture Minister Dr. Syahrul Yasin Limpo encouraged the Agricultural Research and Development Agency to step up its game in developing innovative techniques to improve methods employed in agriculture.
During a workshop with the theme “Implementing the Use of Innovation and Provision of Superior Seeds”, the Minister underscored the importance of utilising technology to streamline the agriculture sector, one which has long relied on traditional methodologies.
He added that the Agency is an important unit under the Ministry in introducing innovation. The Minister also said that they are looking at “being able to discover new engineering and breakthroughs, those that are currently unavailable. There must be innovative engineering.”
The Minister also expressed his enthusiasm over the strides that the Agency has made last year despite challenges recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that the Agency was able to show its resilience during that period and was able to create new programmes and to develop policies to accelerate in the new normal. He said he is hopeful that the same momentum will be sustained this year, as the country continues to anticipate economic recovery.
He emphasised that: “in 2021 it must be better, even faster. This is the momentum that must be used to actualise our research and development. This is the time for research and development to produce work that breaks through existing engineering, technological research and applications.”
The Ministry likewise announced that it has given a directive to the Agency to conceptualise and formulate its targets by the end of the first quarter of the year. It added that it anticipates to see commodity targets such as those for soybeans, garlic and corn, increase to achieve goals of producing 6 to 8 tonnes of these products per hectare.
This target, the Ministry said, can be achieved through a multi-tier approach –by looking at targets from upstream to downstream. To jumpstart this initiative, researchers were urged to start developing and building on existing agricultural varieties of crops. The next step would be finding ways on how to maximise post-harvest processing to hit targets.
By re-strategising, the Ministry hopes that the Agency will be able to streamline agricultural processes through innovative techniques. This directive is in line with commitments earlier made by the Indonesian government to meet the increasing food demands of about 273 million citizens and to make farmers more innovative in their craft.