[Unpad.ac.id, 30/11/2016] Chairperson of the Indonesian Association of Food Technology Expert (PATPI) Center, Prof. Dr. Ir. Rindit Pambayun, M.P., argued that Indonesia should be able to be the world’s breadbasket. Therefore, the government’s efforts to achieve food security and national food sovereignty should be improved to the level of the world.
“As a tropical country, Indonesia is richer in sunlights causing plants to be more actively photosynthesized. Why do we have to import food from countries far from the equator?” said Prof. Rindit as a speaker “National Seminar on Food Security: Building Food Security Local Food Commodities Through Empowerment” at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Industrial Technology of Agriculture Unpad, Wednesday (30/11).
This seminar is held in cooperation of FTIP Unpad with PATPI Bandung. Besides Prof. Rindit, this seminar also featured presentation from experts in the field of food. The seminar was officially opened by the Dean of FTIP Unpad, Dr. Edy Suryadi, Ir., M.T.
Prof. Rindit argued that efforts to achieve food security require significant contribution from the food experts. There are three aspects that must be conducted by experts of food: producing educated people in the food sector, food sector resulted in technological innovation, and facilitating various activities in the food sector.
A variety of local food commodities should be able to compete with imported food production. The Professor of Agricultural Technology of Sriwijaya University gave an example of cassava product called comro in West Java; if given the innovation and promotion of good business it will be able to compete with the hamburger products from abroad.
Globalizing variety of local food is up to the experts of food. Prof. Rindit said that thousands of food innovation of agricultural products must be created to increase the added value into a product that can compete. This is innovative direction toward the commercialism. “This should be done by FTIP in cooperation with the industrial sector,” added Prof. Rindit.
Furthermore, Prof. Rindit explained that some technological heritage in terms of food processing necessary to study further. It concerns on the quality and safety of food products. According to him, the quality of food products today must consider the element of safe, nutritious, aesthetic, healthy and halal (ABEMH).
Through intensive study, there is the possibility of old technologies to be developed or abandoned. Prof. Rindit said that the abandoned technology is not yet able to produce food products that standardized ABEMH.
The seminar also featured with paper presentations of 70 speakers. Chairperson of activities, Yana Cahyana, S.TP., DEA., PhD, said paper presentations are divided into several sub-themes, namely the post-harvest technology, a diversified food products, functional food management and food security. Expected to be a means of dissemination of research results that could contribute to the realization of food security.
On the same occasion, the Department of Industrial Technology of Food of FTIP Unpad also held Functional Food Fruit-vegetables (FFF) Festival. The event was attended by students in order to fulfill the tasks subjects Practical New Product Development. The activity was held in the parking lot FTIP Unpad campus.
This year, the theme of the festival raised new food product development of fruit and vegetables. A total of 20 participants participated in the event. Each participant brings a new product that is processed from raw materials of vegetable and fruits. *
Reported by Arief Maulana / eh
