Jakarta (ANTARA) - Prof. Endang Tri Margawati, the animal biotechnology researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences' (LIPI's) Biotechnology Research Center, vouched for urban farming as a solution to address food problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Urban farming is very profitable during a pandemic, as we do not have to prepare large areas of land," she stated during a virtual national seminar on "Prof Talk: Food Security in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era," held here on Monday.
Margawati called for further increasing urban agricultural enterprises having emerged and developed long before the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the people's food requirements are fulfilled.
Citing as examples, Margawati noted that urban farming that can be conducted during the pandemic include rice planting in yards, hydroponic rice planting, short-duration rice planting, and integration of rice cultivation and fish farming.
Furthermore, protein sources can be provided by raising livestock, such as chicken, ducks, goats, sheep, cows, and buffaloes, as was the norm in Indonesian villages, she pointed out.
Meanwhile, Chair of the Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture Prof. Tahlim Sudaryanto remarked that the COVID-19 pandemic had brought about a sense of realization among people of the importance of efforts to support food security now and in future.
The professor affirmed that urban agriculture can support efforts to meet the people's food requirements, including during a pandemic such as now.
Sudaryanto lauded the initiatives at neighborhood and community (RT/RW) levels in utilizing existing spaces to develop urban farming.
"It does not require vast land, as alleys can also be developed for hydroponic plants, including at home," he stated.
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