As part of a series of activities for the 66th Anniversary of Unhas, the Plant Protection Study Program of the Faculty of Agriculture together with the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (Barantan) collaboratively realized the National Seminar and Socialization of Agricultural Quarantine with the title, “Implementation ofSmart Plant ProtectionTowards Modern Agriculture” at Prof. Fachruddin Hall, 1st Floor Building of Postgraduate Unhas, Thursday (8/9/2022).

The activity was opened with remarks by the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Dr. Ir. Salengke, M.Sc who expressed his concern about aspects of pests and diseases that can one day hit plants. He pointed out that currently agriculture is being hit by caterpillars that attack corn crops.

“What we will discuss in this seminar is something that is very important to maintain the sustainability of production, the sustainability of agriculture in our country. As we know, one of the aspects that greatly affects production is the pest and disease aspect, and to avoid this happening, the first entrance is quarantine,” he said.

Rector of Hasanuddin University Prof. Dr. Ir. Jamaluddin Jompa, M.Sc who took the time to open the event emphasized that agriculture is part of basic human needs. He said that the topic ofthe smart systemseminar is a very important topic to protect not only for crop protection needs but also for food security so that Indonesia survives as a country that has strong agricultural capabilities.

“I am very aware that the need for science, the need for technology, the need for innovation are very important,” he said.

He urged all participants who attended to take advantage of the knowledge gained from thesmart plant protection implementation seminar. He said to not only focus on agricultural science but also study other sciences that might be applicable in the concept of agriculture. By studying other sciences, he hopes that the participants can get new innovations in preventing or making something that can help in terms of agricultural protection.

The three speakers who attended the seminar and socialization of agricultural quarantine were the Head of the Center for Compliance, Cooperation, and Quarantine Information, Ir. Junaidi, MM with the seminar material, “The Role of the Agricultural Quarantine Agency to Realize Gratieks for Advanced, Independent, and Modern Indonesian Agriculture,” Unhas Engineering Lecturer Dr. Indrabayu, S.T., M.T., M.Bus.Sys with the material “Implementation ofArtificial Intelligence in Preventing the Spread of Disease,” as well as Unhas Agricultural Lecturer Prof. Dr. Ir. A. Nasruddin, M.Sc with the seminar material, “Discovery of New Species of Pests in Several Plant Commodities in South Sulawesi.”

Junaidi as the head of the quarantine center explained that one of the duties of the Agricultural Quarantine Agency is to supervise and / or control food safety and food quality, including rare plants spread throughout Indonesia.

He added that as one of the largest producers of foodstuffs in the world, the agriculture minister directly instructed Barantan to help in increasing food exports.

Indrabayu as a Lecturer of Informatics, Faculty of Engineering Unhas on the same occasion introduced technology that can monitor the estimated readiness and yield of fruit harvests in plantations. In addition, a tool was also introduced that can measure the degree of maturity of the harvested fruit.

In his explanation, Indrabayu also confirmed the rector’s statement that science should not be allowed to run independently, but should be collaborated in order to be able to create the best innovations.

As the last speaker, Prof. Nasruddin explained about various pests that attack several plants in South Sulawesi. He expressed his concern about the sustainability of Indonesia’s agricultural system, especially South Sulawesi. One example is a pest that shortens the productive life of plants so that they can reduce the amount of production.

“It is also necessary to regularly monitor the status of the presence of these pests or this disease, whether they are still in the field, whether they are still destructive, or no longer exist,” he added before ending the presentation.