MEDAN-Public Relations USU: The Faculty of Agriculture at Universitas Sumatera Utara, together with the Agribusiness Undergraduate Program and PT. Agrari, held a public lecture featuring Prof. Bungaran Saragih, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia from 2000 to 2004, on Wednesday, February 2, 2025, at the Suratman Hall. Prof. Bungaran is a prominent figure and one of the distinguished professors at Bogor Agricultural University.

 

The public lecture focused on agricultural downstreaming with the theme “Agribusiness as the Foundation for the Re-Industrialization of Indonesia's Economy.” Also in attendance were Prof. Dr. Ir. Tavi Supriana, MS, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at USU, deputy deans, program heads, and program secretaries, Head of Agronomy at PT Agrari Agus Hatimbulan, SP, and students.

 

In his opening remarks, Prof. Tavi stated that it was an honor for the Faculty of Agriculture to have Prof. Bungaran Saragih as a speaker. “I have personally witnessed through my own experience that Prof. Bungaran Saragih is an extremely intelligent individual, particularly in the field of macroeconomics, during my time as his student in the master’s program at IPB.”

 

The public lecture was moderated by Vista Uli Sihombing, M.Si. In her opening remarks, she explained that the theme presented was an effort to reflect on and prospectively examine how the agricultural sector should not be viewed solely from a production perspective. Agriculture must be positioned as the driving force for national economic transformation, particularly through downstreaming approaches and the comprehensive development of agribusiness systems.

 

Prof. Bungaran Saragih explained in his presentation, “Currently, Indonesia is targeted to achieve an 8% annual economic growth rate, as well as food security and energy security. To build the foundation for 8% economic growth, the government is promoting industrialization, now more commonly called downstreaming. Although Indonesia’s downstreaming efforts have been ongoing for some time, they remain relatively superficial on an aggregate level. This is reflected in the ratio of the value added by the agro-industrial sector to the agricultural sector in 2023, which remains around one."

 

The participants were highly enthusiastic about the lecture, as evidenced by the numerous questions posed during the question-and-answer session.