BAB 1

INTRODUCTION
A. Introduction
Indonesia is an agrarian country that emphasizes the development of the
agricultural sector. However, ironic that based on data from BPS (Central Bureau
of Statistics) to Indonesia is still importing rice, even once the volume reaches
5.8 million tons. This condition is because Indonesia is an agrarian country's
largest rice importer in the world. Increasing the volume of imports of other
agricultural products also increased. Imports of corn for example, from 298 236
tons (1998), 591 056 tonnes (20% of demand, in 1999) to 1,199,322 tons (60%
of demand, 2000). Imports of wheat amounted to 3.58 million tons, 1.27 million
tons of soybeans, sugar amounted to 1.7 million tonnes. BPS data also show that
in 2001 Indonesia imported 0.8 million tons of peanuts, 0.3 million tons of green
beans, even the 0.9 million tons of dried cassava.
There are many factors that cause decline in agricultural productivity of
Indonesia. Based on the study conducted by Bappenas (2002), one cause is the
reduction of agricultural land in Indonesia. Wetland areas in Indonesia in 1983 is
approximately 16,700,000 ha of wetland area in 2002 to shrink to 14 million
hectare. In period 1990 - 1995 conversion of fertile land in Java Island reaches 10
000 ha per year. Other causes according to Adi (2003) is the declining quality of
agricultural land in Indonesia due to erosion, residual chemicals such as
herbicides and pesticides, and heavy metal pollution. Indonesian agricultural
productivity decrease inversely with the food needs of Indonesian society. If the
conditions above are not significantly increased, Bappenas (2002) estimates that
in 2010 Indonesia will import 1.5 million tonnes of rice.
agricultural producers are farmers in rural areas, while customers
primarily in urban communities. Because the Green Revolution is considered to
have a negative impact on the quality of the earth, then the views of
biotechnology is considered technologically advanced society could be an
alternative to increasing agricultural production and quality in rural areas. This
paper presents a brief opportunity in the application of agricultural biotechnology
in rural areas to improve efficiency in sustainable agribusiness.
B. Biotechnology
Biotechnology for the first time this term was proposed by Karl Ereky, an
engineer of Hungary in 1917 to describe the large-scale pig production using
sugar beet as a source of food (Suwanto, 1998). Biotechnology comes from two
words, namely 'life makhuk bio' meaning and 'technology' which means how to
produce goods or services. Of the alloys are two words the European Federation
of Biotechnology (1989) defines as a combination of biotechnology, natural
sciences and engineering sciences that aims to improve the application of living
organisms, cells, parts of living organisms, and / or molecular analogues for
products and services.
By definition, biotechnology is not something new. Plants and animals
have been didomestifikasi since thousands of years ago. Our ancestors have
been using microbes to create useful products such as tempeh, Oncom, tape,
wine, shrimp paste, soy sauce, yogurt, and nata de coco. Almost all antibiotic
derived from microbes, and enzymes used to make fructose syrup to wash

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clothes. In agriculture, microbes fix nitrogen has been used since abab to 19.
microbial solvent has been used for agriculture in the countries of Eastern
Europe since the 1950s. Microbes have also been used extensively to clean and
decomposition of waste and debris for decades. In the medical field, certain
vaccines made from viruses or bacteria that have been weakened. Biotechnology
has a gradient of technological developments, which started from the application
of traditional biotechnology has been long and widely used, until the new
biotechnology techniques and continue to evolve (Figure 1).
Biotechnology developments helik drastic happened since the discovery
of the double structure of DNA and recombinant DNA technology in the early
1950s. Science has reached the point that allows people to manipulate
organisms at the molecular and cellular levels. Biotechnology can make
improvements quickly and strains can be predicted, also can design strains with
additional genetic material that does not exist in strain of origin. Manipulate
living organisms for human purposes is not new, biotechnology offers new ways
to manipulate living organisms.
Like other technologies, biotechnology applications for agriculture in
addition to offering a variety of benefits is also a potential risk of loss. Potential
benefits of agricultural biotechnology, among others: the potential for higher
yields, reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, environmental stress tolerant,
marginal land use, identification and elimination of disease in animal food,
quality food and better nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and improvements
(Jones, 2003),
Potential risks of biotechnology to agriculture and the environment,
among others, through effects on non-target organisms, the formation of
resistant pests, and the transfer of unwanted genes, including gene transfer to
wild type plants, transfer of genes coding for the production of toxic genes and
resistance gene transfer antibiotics through the marker gene (marker)
antibiotics. Some critics say that the recombinant DNA modification does not
cause food safe to eat. Environmental groups criticize that the organism causing
damage to biodiversity trasgenik for killing wild organisms useful, or create an
invasive organism that can damage the environment (Conko, 2003).
Apart from the debate the advantages and disadvantages, the principle of
"prudence" should be put forward in the application of biotechnology to
agriculture in rural areas, particularly genetic engineering. Learning from the
experience of the Green Revolution which were previously considered safe, the
intensification of the use of fertilizers and pesticides are proven to influence the
new record after two decades later.

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 BAB 2
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

A. improvement of quality planting materials

Rice paddy fields lined up neatly in the countryside is not something that
happens happens, but it is a result of the hard work of our ancestors for several
centuries. For centuries, humans have been crossed and fertilize them with
menyeleksinya from wild strains of plants to obtain rice lines like that exist
today. Work is actually crossing and selection of human genes has entered into
transactions (exchange of genetic material) from a variety of wild relatives into
crops with desired traits, such as high production, short harvest time, rice
fluffier, resistant to aphis, and others. The same thing happened to agricultural
products, livestock, and fisheries that are the result of genes transactions over
the centuries
Transactions of the gene with the conventional method requires a
relatively long time with unpredictable results. Biotechnology offers a new
alternative in the transaction of genes in a relatively short time with a more
predictable outcome. The conventional method of transactions performed at the
level of genes of organisms, while biotechnology transactions cells or gene at the
molecular level. Biotechnology can penetrate even the taxonomical limitations
previously not possible with conventional means.
Improving the quality of planting materials through biotechnology are
based on four categories of improvement: improvement of food quality,
resistance to pests or diseases, tolerance to environmental stress, and pond
management (Huttner, 2003). A group of researchers led by Dr Ingo Potrykus
has managed to enter and express the two genes important in the formation of
provitamin A in rice endosperm (Ye et. Al., 2000). Yellow rice production because
it contains the ß-Carotene and is known as the "Golden Ms Rice." genetically
engineered to help reduce disturbances to blindness and other health disorders
caused by vitamin A deficiency often occur in poor countries and developing
countries
The use of pesticides for farmers in the village was very high. Pesticide
residues left not only harmful to the environment but also dangerous for people
who eat them. Assembly plants that are resistant to pests can be significantly
reduced use of pesticides and the cost of treatment (Carpenter and Gianessi,
2001). Examples of transgenic plants resistant to pests of maize BT and Bt
cotton, i.e. plants which have a lethal gene Cry And. some types of insect

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 Assembly plants to cope with environmental stress is now widely applied.
For example, to cope with Al stress in the land that is currently being assembled
soybean Al acid stress resistance by a group of researchers led by Dr M. Joseph
of IPB. Indonesian Plantation Research in Biotechnology (IBRIEC) conduct
research to assemble the cane that are resistant to drought.
biofertilizer and biodecomposer
The carrying capacity of some agricultural land, especially in marginal
lands is relatively low as a result of lower soil organic matter. Soil organic matter
as an energy source is very important for the activity of soil microorganisms.
Some of the soil microorganisms play an important role in the mechanism of
dissolution efficiency of nutrient elements in soil, both derived from soil and
fertilizer nutrients. Therefore, low levels of organic materials, microbial activity is
also low. As a result, chemical fertilizers applied to soil to crops, mostly removed
through the washing process, evaporation, and fiksasai. Therefore, if the soil
microbial activity and / or increasing soil organic matter, nutrient supply
efficiency can be improved
microbial utilization of land for agriculture began in the 19th century,
namely the use of microbial nitrogen to increase the nitrogen content in soil. soil
microbes that can be utilized as a biofertilizer is solvent microbial nutrient,
nutrient fastening, binding nutrient, and / or aggregate pemantap. Basically, no
fertilizer, biological fertilizer in the conventional sense, such as urea, SP36, or
MOP, so the application can not be replaced all the necessary plant nutrients
(Goenadi et al .., 1998). biofertilizer application for the land, can increase soil
microbial activity, so progress optimum nutrient availability and conventional
fertilizer can be reduced tanmpa cause a decrease in crop production and soil.
One of biofertilizer products named Gold (Microbial activity in soil improvement)
has been assembled by IBRIEC (Patent ID 0000206 S), licensed by the PT
Nusantara Bio Industries and are used in various plantation companies (SOEs
and BUMS) (Goenadi, 1999).
Soil organic matter content can be improved by adding organic matter
decomposing agricultural waste (compost) into the ground. Natural
decomposition process takes a long time (3-6 months). Decomposition process
can be accelerated by the decline in shipments of raw materials and
decomposition aktvator (Biodecomposer) (Goenadi, 1997). Utilization
biodecomposer can accelerate the composting process becomes 2-3 weeks. In
addition, some microbes biodecomposer active ingredient remaining in the
compost also acts as a natural enemy of fungal diseases of roots or stem rot.
B. Biokontrol dan Bioremediasi
Microbes have also been used to control pests and plant diseases.
Application of microbes for biocontrol of pests and diseases of wild plants include
microbes that have been selected or microbes that have undergone genetic
engineering. Examples of microbes that have been widely used for biocontrol is
Bauveria bassiana for insect control, Metarhizium anisopliae for controlling pests
of sugar cane boktor (Dorysthenes sp) and sengon boktor (Xyxtrocera festiva),
and Trichoderma harzianum to control soil borne diseases (sp Gonoderma,
Mushroom White Roots , and Phytopthora sp) biocontrol microbes are not always
used as an ingredient aktinya, Coffee and Cocoa in Jember Research Center is

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developing black ants to control pests Cocoa Pod Borer (EAPs). The advantage
with the use of biocontrol include environmentally friendly agriculture, and
reduce consumption of pesticides that are not environmentally friendly
One of the causes of declining quality of agricultural land in Indonesia is
bayaknya residues of synthetic chemicals such as herbicides. According to data
from FAO (1998) using herbidisa in Indonesia in 1996 amounted to 26 570
tonnes. This number increased by 395% compared to the year 1991 pengunaa
herbicides (6739 tonnes). Efforts to improve environmental conditions affected
by pollution herbicides has been conducted. One alternative technology for such
purposes is through bioremediation. Bioremediation is defined as the process of
decomposition of waste organic / inorganic polutann biology in controlled
conditions. Decomposition of this contaminant compounds umumny involving
microorganisms (yeast, fungi, and bacteria). General approach to enhance
biodegradation is done by: (i) use the original microbe (intrinsic bioremediation),
(ii) modify the environment with the addition of nutrients and aeration
(biostimulasi), (iii) the addition of microorganisms (bioaugmentasi) (Sulia, 2003).
C. livestock and fisheries
Biotechnology has also made several important breakthroughs in the world
peternakanan and fisheries. One of the success that some time ago simply
mengemparkan world is the success of Dr Ian Helmut known as the cloning of
sheep "Dolly". This success has opened opportunities for the livestock to
mengembangbiakan shout with relatively uniform properties. Another success is
the genetic engineering to improve the efficiency of metabolism of livestock /
fish, such as increased absorption of feed, improving the quality of meat and
milk production (Huttner, 2003
D. organic farming
World demand for organic agricultural products or raw food made from
organic agricultural products showed a very rapid improvement. This increase is
in line with increasing public awareness about the dangers of eating foods that
contain synthetic materials / chemicals. Much evidence suggests that many
diseases caused by residues of synthetic material / chemicals contained therein,
such as cancers caused by carcinogenic substances. They are willing to pay
more for organic foods to get a very expensive health
Organic food demand in world markets tend to rise. Until 2005 the market
share of organic food in European countries, Oceania, United States, Canada,
and Japan is expected to grow an average of approximately 12.5% per year.
Estimated that in 2003 reached $ 23-25000000000 and $ 29-31 Billion in 2005
(Yussefi, 2003). Prospects for large market opportunities for developing countries
like Indonesia to produce organic food. Many organic agricultural products that
can not be produced in European countries and is only produced in tropical
countries, for example: coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, tropical fruits and tropical
vegetables (FAO, 1999). In order to increase agricultural production of organic
Indonesian government has launched the 2010 Go Organic.
Organic agriculture is a holistic and integrated farming systems that
optimize the health and productivity of agroecosystems, naturally, so it can
produce enough food and fibre, quality and sustainability. Agricultural
biotechnology has an excellent opportunity to promote organic agriculture in
Indonesia. Biotechnology products, which can be used in organic agriculture, in

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particular, higher material assembly plant that has a high productivity and
sustainability to pests/diseases, so it does not require you to synthetic
pesticides. Food manufacturing products and biodecomposer combined with
green manures can replace conventional type of chemical fertilizers.
Conversion from conventional farming to organic farming is not easy.
Farmers will experience a substantial decline in production compared with
conventional methods. This is due to poor soil conditions and agricultural soil
biological processes that have been disrupted. Marketing of organic agricultural
products to major consuming countries (America and Europe) requires a
certification that requires complicated and expensive.
One of the organic agricultural products in Indonesia has been recognized
and has an international market are coffee and tea. Gayo Mountain coffee
produced by farmers in Aceh have received certification from Skal International
and has been exported to Europe, America and Japan (Winarso, 2003). Organic
tea cultivation technology has been developed by researchers at the Research
Center for Tea and Quinine Gambung (Tea and Quinine Research Center, 2003).
Currently, PT Astra Agro Lestari is a palm oil plantation menyiapakan organic
management system (Palgunadi, 2003, personal communication).
E. challenges of biotechnology applications in rural areas
Farmers in the countryside in general is that people with low educational
levels with a simple mindset. Farmers in general rather difficult to accept and
practice the new technologies such as agricultural biotechnology without
watching and practicing their own. Biotechnology applications for farmers in rural
areas requires earnest effort and is done continuously. There is a kind of doubt
that biotechnology can be applied successfully in rural areas by farmers. This
opinion is necessarily based on the assumption that biotechnology is a complex
or technical
Biotechnology could be a simple technique like fermentation tempeh or
require complicated techniques with high cost. Some things to consider in
designing the products of biotechnology for application in rural areas is that any
complicated assembly process the end result of this process should be as simple
as possible (user friendly). Farmers as users of biotechnology can be easily
practiced. For farmers the most important thing is that the application of
biotechnology can create efficiencies and improve his farming business profits.
Progressivity of rural agriculture is possible only if the optimal place
advanced technology that has been created in the urban land transferred to
farmers. Without an intensive and consistent efforts gap between technological
progress and agricultural productivity in rural areas will never be bridged.
Technology-based entrepreneurial abilities (Technopreneurship) becomes very
important to continue to be maintained among the farmers as entrepreneurs in
the agribusiness sector.

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 BAB 3
CLOSING

agricultural production in Indonesia has decreased and does not provide for the
people of Indonesia. This condition is caused by several things, among others,
the limited area of agricultural land and declining quality of agricultural land.
Agricultural biotechnology offers an alternative way to improve the efficiency of
agriculture in Indonesia. Agricultural biotechnology applications in rural areas,
among others, is to improve the quality of planting materials including food
quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and tolerant to environmental stress.
Apliksi biofertilizer and barium biodecomposer active microbes that can reduce
consumption of conventional fertilizer without reducing agricultural productivity.
Furthermore, the application of biocontrol can be used to solve a variety of
agricultural pests and diseases. Go Organic line with the program in 2010 that

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launched the government, the application of biotechnology can be used to
develop organic agriculture in the countryside.

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