SEAMEO BIOTROP became one of 78 participants who enlivened the exhibition in a series of 2019 National Education and Culture Conference (RNPK) activities which was organized by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) on 11-13 February 2019 at the Education and Training Center (Pusdiklat) for the Staff of MoEC, Depok. This activity was officially opened by the Minister of MoEC Prof Dr Muhajir Effendy, M.A.P and visited by more than 1,000 visitors.
For this exhibition, BIOTROP supported the theme determined by the exhibition organizer, namely 'Strengthening Human Resource Development' by presenting various products and technologies that appropriate to bolster the industry revolution 4.0 through education. BIOTROP presented a program called the Independent School for Educational Vegetable and Fruit Plant Production (SMARTSBE), a collaborative program between MoEC and BIOTROP aiming to revitalize Vocational Schools (SMK). Dr Supriyanto, the program coordinator who is also a BIOTROP Affiliate Scientist, said that there were more than 30 Vocational Schools in Indonesia that have been fostered through this program and produced various kinds of products from plants that were developed, such as fruit juice and soft candy.
On the same occasion, the President of Indonesia during his visit to the exhibition area on 12 February 2019, visited the BIOTROP booth and was interested in essential oils developed by BIOTROP. Until now, BIOTROP has extracted essential oils from various types of plants such as eucalyptus, cananga, green tea, citronella, agarwood, jasmine, and so on, as well as developed its processed products in the form of perfumes and soaps. "Essential oils have a good aroma to be used as a perfume for various types of products. Some of them are also beneficial for relaxation," said Dr Supriyanto. During the exhibition, BIOTROP also provided visitors with the opportunity to create their own perfume according to their personal tastes. The knowledge of essential oils and their processing were also included in the SMARTSBE program.
In addition to essential oils, Dr Supriyanto also showed other knowledge and technology developed by BIOTROP, namely mushroom cultivation and its processed products, aquaponics, cultivation of ornamental fish and lobsters, replicas of parasite insects in various types of staples, as well as cultivation of stick and leaf insects. BIOTROP also presented the tissue culture process of various types of fruit and wood plants and showed the ready-to-plant seeds resulted from this breeding technology to visitors.
Seeing that the visitors had high curiosity about the material presented, Dr Supriyanto concluded, "Through our participation in this exhibition, we hope that people can get to know more about various natural resources and its benefits in life. We also invite any community who wants to learn more about what we have, to visit our office directly in Bogor, for free."
