UNS — Agricultural Extension and Communication Program student association (HM Pelita) Faculty of Agriculture (FP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a national webinar on the Creative Communication to Support Sustainable Farming Development. The event was a part of the National Agricultural Extension Student Summit (NAESS) 2021 held on Sunday (21/3/2021) through the Zoom Cloud Meeting application and live broadcasted on HM Pelita YouTube channel.
Five main speakers were invited to the event, Prof. Dr. Ir. Dwi Andreas Santosa, M.S., Dr. Agung Wibowo, S.P., M.Si., Dr. Ir. Lely Nuryati, M.Sc., Alia Bihrajihant, Ph.D., and Eko Agus Heryanto, S.P. The first material on Agricultural Communication in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 was delivered by Prof. Dwi Andreas from Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB). Prof. Dwi Andreas argued that the agricultural sector in the industry 4.0 era is an agricultural sector based on future farm concepts.
“The examples of this concept are vertical farming, smart farming detecting soil nutrient, checking pests in the field using robot drone, genetically modifying food, 3D printed food; printing foods using algae, and cultured meats. We need to prepare ourselves to face this era,” Prof. Dwi explained.
Prof. Dwi also shared the condition of agricultural farming in Indonesia, which continues to be marginalized. From 2016-2019 the agricultural sector contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreases. Indonesia’s agricultural production, especially rice, does not experience significant growth with minus 0.34% growth per annum in the last five years.
The discussion was followed by Dr. Lely Nuryati, the Head of Agricultural Extension Center, who delivered materials on Strengthening and Adapting the Human Resources through Creative Communication. Dr. Lely explained that communication is a torch, and an extension agent should bring light to their surroundings. The philosophies of an extension are teaching, truth, and trust. The extension is an activity to deliver the fact. It aims to facilitate farmers’ learning process and provide access to technology and knowledge on leadership, managerial, and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Lely also promotes a solution for agricultural extension officers in the industry 4.0 era. These officers need to adapt to the information and communication, access information technology, utilize information for the extension activities, and introduce them to farmers. Extension officers must be intelligent and creative in developing the agricultural sector.
Dr. Agung Wibowo from UNS delivered the third material on the Strategy to Grow Creative and Innovative Mindset for Millennials in Creative Extension. “Millennials extension officers must be creative, be able to create, and also innovative, introducing or developing new methods,” Dr. Agung explained.
According to Dr. Agung, creative people can solve functional problems while contributing to the development of civilization. Excellent millennials should deliver creative and innovative ideas, modify ideas, create feedback for millennials, and provide unlimited alternatives and direction.
Alia Bihrajihant Raya, Ph.D. from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), delivered material on The Implementation of Information Technology in Developing Extension Effectiveness. The high number of beginner farmers brings potential because they are looking for an extension officer who can invite them and provide innovation. The challenges faced by agricultural extension are the small agricultural scale, limited mobility, and inaccessible transportation. The small agricultural scale can be solved by utilizing technology to create transparency in the form of a database so that extension services can be matched with farmers’ needs.
Alia explained that technology utilization could teach farmers and business actors to gain the information they need and to identify their resources as a basis in information utilization ethics. The opportunity to increase farmers, extension agents, and the agricultural community is growing with the use of communication media. The diverse digital interaction media, agricultural app, and social media significantly assist in achieving this objective.
Eko Agus Heryanto, S.P., as Agribusiness Entrepreneur, delivered the last material on Agribusiness Partnership to Support Sustainable Agricultural Extension. He argues that the only certainty in the agricultural sector is the uncertainty in prices and seasons. The government is expected to stabilize the prices of goods to ensure that farmers can perform their farming activities.
Eko explained that agricultural extension agents are not limited to the Public Servant but also all parties partnering with farmers and independent extension agents who can implement agricultural technology to increase production. Partner companies usually provide parent seeds, farming facilities, technical support, technology mastery and improvement, and funding. It also reduces each party’s tasks and combines resources to achieve a better outcome, based on the principle of mutual need, interdependence, mutual benefit, openness, equality, and sustainability.
After the delivery of materials from the speakers, the event was followed by a question-and-answer session. Each speaker was also asked to deliver a closing statement before the closing. In total, 350 participants attended the event. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
