Indonesian professor encourages use of non-destructive technology to improve agricultural competitiveness

Indonesian agricultural commodities will be able to penetrate the international market, if non-destructive agricultural product quality evaluation technology can be widely implemented.

Bogor, West Java (Indonesia Window) – Prof. Dr. I Wayan Budiastra emphasized that the application of non-destructive agricultural product quality evaluation technology is a crucial strategy for increasing the productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of Indonesian agricultural commodities in the global market.

Prof. Dr. I Wayan Budiastra, a professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Technology of Indonesia’s IPB University, made the remark during a press conference held online on Thursday.

According to Prof. Budiastra, most agricultural product industries and exporters still rely on chemical analysis in laboratories to ensure the quality of their crops.

This method takes between one and two weeks and costs between 200,000 rupiahs and 500,000 rupiahs per sample.

This situation is considered an obstacle for the business world, especially as Indonesia faces export competition that demands speed, efficiency, and consistent product quality.

“We need fast, accurate, affordable, and environmentally friendly quality evaluation technology so that national agricultural products can compete in the global market,” the IPB University professor said.

For more than two decades, research conducted by Prof. Budiastra and his team has produced various non-destructive technologies, including Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR), which utilizes the interaction of near infrared waves with a product’s chemical components to predict internal quality.

This technology has been proven capable of measuring sugar and acid content in mangoes, caffeine levels in coffee beans, and fat and free fatty acid levels in oil palm fruit with a high degree of accuracy (r > 0.9).

In addition, there is a portable UV-VIS-NIR tool designed to determine the ripeness level of oil palm fruit in plantations.

Currently, harvesters typically rely on visual assessment based on fruit color, which often produces inconsistent results. This tool has been proven to be able to determine three levels of ripeness of oil palm fruit with 100 percent accuracy.

Meanwhile, ultrasonic technology can also predict the hardness, sweetness, and internal damage of thick-skinned fruits like mangosteen and soursop based on the speed of ultrasonic waves.

Another non-destructive technology is Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), which utilizes cellular electrical properties to predict the internal quality of products, such as the acidity and sugar content of Garut oranges and the palm oil content.

Prof. Budiastra has also developed electromagnetic wave-based processing technologies, including Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAE), which accelerates the extraction of active compounds from nutmeg and pepper from 24 hours to just 1 hour, and the Green House Effect (GHE) Dryer, which can reduce the curing time (a post-harvest process to heal wounds and prevent rotting in the harvest) for vanilla from 22 days to around 12 days, while producing better quality vanilla.

 

Impact on Farmers

 

These technologies are not only intended for large industries but can also be utilized by farmer groups, cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises.

With proper implementation, farmers can obtain products with consistent quality that meets export standards, potentially increasing selling prices and income.

However, according to Prof. Budiastra, the implementation of this innovative technology requires strong government support, particularly in terms of policies for mass production of tools and machinery, as well as financing or subsidy schemes to ensure accessibility for farmers and small businesses.

“The government needs to play a role in encouraging downstream research through support from the tool and machinery industry, so that research results don’t stop in the laboratory but can truly benefit farmers and small businesses,” he emphasized.

The development of non-destructive quality evaluation and agricultural processing technology is part of IPB University’s contribution to strengthening the competitiveness of Indonesia’s leading export products, such as mangoes, mangosteens, coffee, nutmeg, pepper, and palm oil.

With research oriented to global market needs, Prof. Budiastra is optimistic that this innovation can support Indonesia’s vision of becoming the world’s food barn while improving farmer welfare.

“If this technology can be widely implemented, Indonesian agricultural commodities will not only be of better quality but will also be able to penetrate the international market at more competitive prices,” he said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window