Proceedings of International Seminar on Agribusiness of Maize-Livestock Integration
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Date
2013-12-23
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Provincial Government of Gorontalo
Abstract
The growing demand for biofuel which is mainly driven by the increasing oil prices has created more challenges as well as opportunities on agricultural development. For developing countries like Indonesia, the challenges are mostly related to food security since maize, as an important source of modern biofuel, is a staple food for some of the population. In addition, maize is also an important source of feed and raw materials for many type of industries. Since Indonesia has already determined to achieve and sustain food security, the effort to increase maize production mainly through increasing productivity has also challenged by two major sources of uncertainty, i.e. climate change and trade which require science and technolgy as well as market fairness and favorable policy. In relation to our effort to enhance cooperation among some key stakeholders in food security issues and the need to spur up the regional coordination and networking, an International Maize Conference was held on 22-24 November 2012 in Gorontalo. The conference was organized by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Provincial Goverment of Gorontalo. The objectives of the conference were (i) to facilitate stakeholders in addressing the problems of the world maize production related to food security and alternative energy resources, and (ii) to share and exchange ideas/information of maize research results among scientists, researchers, policy makers, industries, and farmers from different countries in the world. Attended by more than 400 participants from 10 countries, four main agenda of the conference were successfully organized. They were (i) International Seminar on Agribusiness of Maize, (ii) International Maize Expo, (iii) Governor Convention and Business Meeting, and (iv) Farm Field Day. The international seminar packed with exciting presentations and papers, all focussed on the theme of “Maize for Food, Feed, and Fuel”. One keynote speaker from Indonesian Minister of Agriculture and some guest speakers from different countries came up with different perspectives of the theme. I highly appreciate the participation and contribution of all participants and the organizer of the conference and my sincere gratitude to the Provincial Government of Gorontalo for all of the kind supports provided during the conference.