Agri-business Conference at IUJ Finished Successfully
As you may have seen in this website, IUJ teamed up with Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Jogjakarta, Indonesia to hold the 4th International Conference on Agro-Industry (4th ICoA) under the theme of “Agri-Business and Technology”. The conference held on Oct 20-22, 2017, attracted research submissions from around the world. Four keynote presentations by agri-business experts and an exhibition of “Smart Agri-Machinery” by renowned Japanese company Kubota highlighted the conference, which was co-chaired by UGM’s Chairman of the Department of Industrial Technology of Agriculture Professor Adi Djoko Guritno and IUJ’s own Professor and Vice President Jay Rajasekera, GSIM Dean Prof. Wenkai Li and GSIR Associate Dean Prof. N.S. Cooray also played key role as part of the organizing team.
Part of the participants, after “Smart Agriculture” keynote speech by Kubota’s Mr. Araki
Opening reception dinner chief guest was Hon. Mr. Hayashi, Mayor of Minamiuonuma City
Conference keynote speakers included Mr. Hiroyuki Araki, Manager of R&D Headquarters, Kubota Corporation, JAPAN; Professor Tomohiro Uchiyama, from Tokyo University of Agriculture; Professor Buddhi Marambe, Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; and Professor Dr. Maksum Machfoedz, Vice General Chairman, Nahdlatul Ulama. Also, Prof. K.P. Singh, the Vice Chancellor of Haryana Agriculture University, one of the leading agri-universities in India attended as an honor guest.
Another key attraction of the ICoA conference was the “Smart Agriculture Machinery” exhibition, which included IoT driven drone, Agri-robot tractor which can be driven without humans, sponsored by renowned Japanese company Kubota.
An Agri-Drone and Agri-Robot Tractor demonstration by Kubota Team
Overall, conference included 30 some technical presentations, including 4 presentations by IUJ alumni. Prof. Li and Prof. Sharkasi also had joint papers presented with their students. Also, IUJ’s own faculty: Prof. Naoko Kumagai, Prof. N.S. Cooray, Prof. Haruyoshi Ito, Prof. Zaw ZawAung, Prof. Nora Sharkasi, Prof. Yingying Zhang, and Prof. Wenkai Li offered their help with chairing technical sessions.
UGM team, led by Prof. Adi, along with Kubota’s Agri-Robot
The largest participation, including more than 13 technical presenters, was from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), led by Professor Adi Djoko Guritno, Chairman of the Department of Industrial Technology of Agriculture. This conference became successful thank to the strong bond between UGM and IUJ. Commenting at the conclusion of the conference, Prof. Adi mentioned “”our team very much appreciate and deliver deep respect to all of IUJ’s team who held the conference perfectly”. Speaking on behalf of the entire IUJ team, Prof. Rajasekera mentioned, “Without Prof. Adi and his team’s great support, we could not have made this conference in IUJ”. Prof. Rajasekera also thanked Prof. Anggoro and Prof. Maksum Machfoedz for their various help and all the keynote speakers, including Prof. Marambe, who came all the way from Sri Lanka.
The IUJ organizing committee, Prof. Rajasekera, Prof. Li, and Prof. Cooray, also thanked the support extended by Mr. Susumu Hosaka, Manager of President’s Office, Ms. Rumiko Anazawa of Office of Student Services, and many other staff from IUJ; also the invaluable support of Niigata Prefecture, JA Uonuma Minami, Minamiuonuma City and Hon. Mayor Hayashi, Minamiuonuma City Marketing and Development Organization (MMDO), its CEO Mr. Masaki Kawai and Ms. Kazuko Takahashi as well as the great support of Niigata Kubota CEO Mr. Norio Yoshida.
IUJ Volunteers, from IM Council and GSO, got great experience and also heavily involved
The Organizing Committee of 4th ICoA would like to sincerely acknowledge the kind support extended by new IUJ President Dr. Hiroyuki Itami by allowing use of the IUJ resources to make the conference successful, as well as the IM Council, led by Ms. Mariam January, and GSO, led by its President Mr. Irhad Alispahic and their many members. Also, Mr. Sajjad Ali, COO of HakkaiX Company, sacrificed his valuable time until the end to make this conference successful.
The organizing team is now considering various publishing avenues, including an edited book, for the papers presented.
The 5th ICoA conference will be held in Bali, Indonesia, in September 2018, according to Professor Adi Djoko Guritno of UGM.
