Research to Focus on Biodiversity with Added Value

The research ecosystem has not been optimally established. In addition to the reluctance of the industries to conduct research, the government has not guaranteed the purchase of research products from the industry.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

A researcher tested the compound of ketepeng leaf (Cassia alata) and parasite leaf (Dendrophtoe Sp) as herbal medicine for Covid-19 at the Laboratory of Good Traditional Medicine Manufacturing Methods (CPOTD) Chemical Research Center, Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Puspitek, South Tangerang , Banten, Wednesday (6/5/2020). LIPI is developing an herbal-based Covid-19 anti-virus derived from the formulation of ketepeng and parasitic leaves.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia is rich in natural resources such as biodiversity but still lacking the technology to develop them. The natural wealth, if used optimally, can create added value that can support the country’s economic development.

Professor of Environmental Management at Diponegoro University, Semarang, Sudharto P. Hadi, who is also the former deputy chairman of the National Research Council, said there was still a tendency to export national resources in the form of raw materials. In fact, if they were processed through innovation and exported in the form of finished products, they would have a higher selling power and can open up more jobs and business activities.

"It will be difficult for us to get out of the middle income trap if we don\'t use natural resources for the downstream industry and innovation," said Sudharto on Wednesday (11/8/2021).

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Regarding technology, he said, Indonesia faced a difficulty to compete with South Korea and Japan. Indonesia should, therefore, be able to optimally develop its natural resources as one of its competitive advantages, he added.

He hoped that Indonesia would have a clearer national research agenda and be able to transform economic development that is based on raw natural resources into one based on science and technology, he added.

The head of the National Research and Innovation Agency, Laksana Tri Handoko, also said research activities would be focused on areas that provided added value, such as local natural resources and diversity. They can be in the form of biodiversity, geography, marine, space observation as well as arts and culture.

They could be potentially developed with added value because they could be easily found in the country, Tri Handoko said. "It doesn\'t have to be a big thing, but those that we already own that need a touch of science and technology," he added.

For example, rattan products face a difficulty to enter the export market due to poor quality. With research, this problem can be solved.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Temulawak pieces are dried in the sun for herbal ingredients in Tembalang, Semarang City, Central Java, Tuesday (4/8/2020). Various types of herbal medicine, including temulawak, temugiring, ginger, and turmeric, in these two months have become commodities that are sought after by manufacturers of herbal processing industries.

Another example is turmeric products, which are usually exported only in powder form. If it can be further processed, turmeric can become a standardized herbal medicine (OHT) that has high added value.

However, Tri Handoko also emphasized that other research and development, such as on the manufacturing of aircraft, rockets and satellites, should be continued.

Meanwhile, Carina Joe, an Indonesian researcher at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, England, who was directly involved in obtaining a patent in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, said that from her experience, Australia and the United Kingdom had an ecosystem that supported research activities particularly in the biotechnology field. Besides receiving the government’s funding support, researchers were able to meet with experts from various fields to exchange ideas and provide suggestions, she added.

Industrial cooperation

To build technology and research, it takes support and cooperation between researchers and industry. According to a researcher at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) of Japan, Satria Zulkarnaen Bisri, Japan continues to intensify scientific conferences and increase interaction between scientists. In fact, such scientific conferences are also attended by the people from the industrial sector, that play an important role in product manufacturing.

If you look at other countries, such as South Korea, their progress is greatly influenced by industrial research.

On the other hand, according to the executive director of Dexa Laboratories of Biomolecular Sciences (DLBS), Raymond Tjandrawinata, the willingness of most industries in Indonesia to build research and development infrastructure remains low. Even if some of them already have their own research facilities, the research activities are not integrated from upstream to downstream. As a result, some of the required materials are still imported.

“If you look at other countries, such as South Korea, their progress is greatly influenced by industrial research. However, it also cannot be separated from the strong support from the government," he said.

Unfortunately, continued Raymond, the research ecosystem has not been optimally established in Indonesia. In addition to the reluctance of the industries to conduct research, the government has not guaranteed the purchase of research products from the industry.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.