The minimal research in various major commodities, such as pepper, cassava and coffee, has caused Indonesia\'s productivity to lose out to other countries. For example, Indonesia dominated the world pepper export market until 2013.
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The headline of this daily on Monday (26/3) was "Research Key to Success". The article reported that research-based innovation was still minimal.
The minimal research in various major commodities, such as pepper, cassava and coffee, has caused Indonesia\'s productivity to lose out to other countries. For example, Indonesia dominated the world pepper export market until 2013. Today, the world pepper market is dominated by Vietnam, which had learned the trade from Indonesia prior to 1980.
We believe that, disregarding the weather and fertility of land, the success of a country such as Vietnam in cultivating pepper is inseparable from research. Yesterday’s news story concluded that this lack of research was one of the factors that has caused the decline in a number of agricultural commodities – commodities that are central to the people’s economy.
The discourse over the decline in agricultural productivity should be a reminder of the importance of research, which is necessary not only in other fields, from health to the military, but also in the sciences we increasingly need, such as geology, geophysics and meteorology. The latter is related to the rising awareness that the Indonesian nation is located in the Ring of Fire, and is currently facing climate change due to global warming.
Over the last several years, our attention on the research budget has been very low, which is less than 0.1 percent of the state budget. In “Reflecting on 50 Years of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)”, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, LIPI Scientific Information Ambassador and a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), mentioned that Indonesia’s research budget was lower than Vietnam or the Philippines.
With regard to this matter, fifth president Megawati Soekarnoputri lobbied President Joko Widodo last year to increase the national research budget.
There are three main issues in connection with research and development in these various areas. First, the research culture itself still needs to be reawakened in the country’s scientific circles.
Second, as Vice President Jusuf Kalla once criticized, research topics need to be focused and relevant to development activities. The Vice President acknowledged that much research is being carried out, but that benefits were not forthcoming
Third and no less important, there is a behavioral pattern among the people of our nation that if we can buy it, why should we make it? This certainly discourages research and innovation, because there is no national commitment to using the fruits of research.
We stress the importance of research in mainstream development, of course through prioritization, so that we can overcome the decline in pepper production and other backward trends in a variety of sectors.
Without research, we will not only experience setbacks not just in pepper, but also will be ill prepared to face the new challenges ahead, especially amid the era of Industry 4.0, which is increasingly dominated by sophisticated technology such as artificial intelligence.