Jakarta—Climate change and food insecurity are big challenges for Indonesia’s agricultural sector, especially rice and corn crops. Dadang Syamsul Munir, director of PT Botani Seed Indonesia, revealed that to face these challenges, innovations in the agricultural sector continue to be developed, one of which is the development of climate-smart rice seeds by PT Botani Seed Indonesia, a company owned by IPB University.
One of the key benefits of climate-smart rice seeds, as highlighted by Dadang, is their potential to significantly reduce the need for fertilizer and water. This, in turn, can lead to a substantial reduction in the cost of rice maintenance, making it a financially viable option for farmers.
“Climate-smart seeds have high productivity but low cost. This is due to less fertiliser and more efficient water utilization,” Munir said in a press conference on Agribusiness Innovation Through Climate-Smart Agriculture on Wednesday, June 19.
These innovative seeds, designed to be more adaptive to dry climates, have already made a significant impact. With sales reaching 300 tons last year, they are proving to be a game-changer. Munir further explained, “These advantages make our innovative seeds more adaptive to climate change because they are able to reduce the production of GHG emissions, contributing to a more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural sector.” (Hartatik)
