Universitas Mataram– Universitas Mataram launched the dissemination of the National Food Patriot Matching Fund Program in the Rectorate Senate Meeting Room, Friday (18/11). This activity is a consortium of 10 state universities (PTN), Universitas Mataram, IPB, UGM, Pattimura University, Lampung University, Tanjung Pura University, Mulawarman University, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, Gorontalo University, and Tanjung Pura University.

The goal of the National Food Patriot Matching Fund program is to give universities a chance to help solve Indonesia’s food problems.

Head of the Unram Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM), Muhamad Ali, S.Pt., M.Si., Ph.D. who is also the person in charge of the 2022 Food Patriot Kedaireka Program, said that food is one of the main focuses of research at the University of Mataram. “Unram is in an island province that is unique and demands innovation and the availability of food security. As a result, one of the foci of our research is food,” he explained.

Muhammad Ali recalled three historical records of famine that occurred in NTB. The Mount Tambora eruption in 1815, the 1940 famine, and the other major events mentioned took at least 10,000 victims, and up to 50,000 died as a result of the 1960s famine.

“It was in those difficult conditions that Unram was founded on October 1, 1962, with the main intention of how to use science to improve output, human help, and prepare the human being for the future; that is what Unram was founded at that time,” he said at the Unram Rectorate.

Until now, there have been so many innovations produced by researchers at Unram. “It’s a long journey that proves that Unram continues to fight and work.” “We are not only educating leaders but also producing innovations needed by the community,” explained the head of the person in charge of the Kedaireka Patriot Pangan 2022 Unram Program.

He also said that the Rector of Unram continues to spur and challenge researchers at Unram to produce innovations needed by the community.

Prof. Ir. Bambang Hari Kusumo, M.Agr, St., Ph.D. who is the Rector and Coordinator of Food Security in Nusa Tenggara and Bali, revealed that the challenges experienced in NTB are related to how to make dry land productive. “If you want to increase local food production, we have a new challenge: how do we produce deep well pumps, The pump design is special, but it uses solar cells. “Once we find the technology, the type of pump, and so on, then a lot of people will feel the big impact,” he said while giving a speech launching the dissemination of the National Food Patriot Matching Fund Program.

Unram’s success this year in getting 7 matching fund titles has had a tremendous impact, especially to improve off-campus learning and go directly to the community. One of them that is included in the category of food security is integrated smart agriculture. directed to develop food in arid areas in the Mandalika buffer.

On the other hand, Prof. Arif Satria, who is the Chairman of the Food Patriot Consortium as well as the Rector of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), said that Indonesia is very likely to be food independence because the cause of the current world food crisis is due to high wheat prices. Meanwhile, Indonesia has various potential substitutes for wheat, such as sorghum, corn, cassava, cannabis, breadfruit, and sago, all of which have great potential.

“This is a momentum so that we can truly be more food independent, not reliant on imports, and not wasting foreign exchange by stimulating the village economy with good food production for imported substitute products, and God willing, the village is more prosperous.”If the village is more prosperous, this will be the foundation for our industrialization strategy in the future,” he concluded.

The activity was combined with a presentation and video viewing of the innovator of the Universitas Mataram Matching Fund Program in 2022. followed by the Unram Matching Fund product exhibition.