Jakarta, 11 September 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed out the importance of the agriculture for Indonesia’s economic growth. Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) shows that the agriculture was the highest contributor to the national economic growth in the second quarter of 2020, which grew by 2.19%.^[1] The role of an extension service agent is vital to increase productivity in the agriculture. They are the funnel of information for farmers to receive various research products and technology development in agriculture. Indonesia is experiencing a shortage in agricultural extension service agents. The Ministry of Agriculture said that ideally, each village should have at least one agricultural extension service agent. These days, one extension agent can be in charge of two to five villages. This means Indonesia needs 42,500 new agricultural extension agents.^[2]

The government faces many challenges in covering the shortage of agriculture extension service agent. Law No. 16/2006 on Agricultural, Fishery and Forestry Extension Service System was subsequently issued. The Law is the basis for the existence of independent and private extension service agents.

“Bayer Indonesia sees universities as potential partner in the effort to overcome the shortage of agricultural extension service agents in Indonesia. Agricultural students can be the agents of change that work directly with the farmers in the fields to provide comprehensive agricultural information and education,” said Mohan Babu, Director of Bayer Indonesia.

This initiative gave birth to a collaboration between Bayer and universities through the Bayer Safe Use Ambassador (BSUA). With student involvement in the field, Bayer is optimistic that BSUA can provide added value and a hands-on learning experience. During the implementation of BSUA since 2017, there have been 1,500 students participating and providing education to at least 3,000 Indonesian farmers.

As of 2019, Bayer Indonesia has collaborated with seven universities: Universitas Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Universitas Padjajaran (Unpad), Universitas Gajah Mada (UGM), Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Unsoed), Universitas Brawijaya (Unibraw), Universitas Negeri Lampung (Unila), and Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara (UISU). The winner of the 2019 BSUA was an agricultural student from Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Unsoed), which made him entitled to an educational trip to Germany. Due to the pandemic, however, their departure schedule has been postponed.

“Bayer did not hold BSUA in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, to keep the good relationship with universities afloat, Bayer CropScience Germany held the Bayer Safe Use Ambassador Virtual Conference on Tuesday, September 8,” Mohan Babu added. 

Also attending the BSUA Virtual Conference was Liam Condon, Member of the Board Management of Bayer AG & President of CropScience Division, and Klaus Kunz, Head of Sustainability & Business Stewardship of Bayer AG. Researchers, students, government officials, associations, academics, and universities collaborating with Bayer in BSUA held in 13 Asia Pacific, European, and Middle East countries also attended the virtual conference event.

During sharing session, a lecturer from Universitas Padjajaran, Dr. Vira Kusuma Dewi, talked about the benefits of joining BSUA for students. In addition to giving added value and direct experience in the field, Vira said the BSUA program is integrated with agricultural students’ learning curriculum. “Communicating the way of using agricultural products safely is very important for farmers, so they can minimize the risk of using pesticides. In fact, there are many Indonesian farmers who do not have enough information about the danger of abusing pesticides,” said Vira.

At the Bayer Safe Use Ambassador Virtual Conference event, Klaus Kunz, the Head of Sustainability & Business Stewardship of Bayer AG said that sustainable agriculture is one of Bayer’s focuses. To date, Bayer has taken a variety of steps to achieve this goal. Bayer is of course not working alone; the company is actively collaborating with various parties, namely universities, to achieve the goal faster.

“We hope that by holding BSUA can give a meaningful contribution for Indonesia’s agriculture and its 270million people,” Mohan Babu concluded.

--END--

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros.

For more information, go to www.bayer.co.id or www.bayer.com.

Media Contact:

Laksmi Prasvita

Head of Communications, Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability

PT Bayer Indonesia

Tel. +62 21 3049 1111

Email: laksmi.prasvita@bayer.com

_{[1] https://www.bps.go.id/pressrelease/2020/08/05/1737/-ekonomi-indonesia-triwulan-ii-2020-turun-5-32-persen.html}

_{[2] http://bppsdmp.pertanian.go.id/id/blog/post/14924-lolos-validasi-mentan-harap-thl-penyuluh-lolos-seleksi-asn-p3k}