Wednesday (23/11) a prestigious international conference was held at the Faculty of Animal Husbandry Agriculture (FPP), University of Muhammadiyah Malang, namely ICoN-BEAT (International Conference on Bio-Energy and Environmentally Agricultural Technologies). this conference has been held for the 3rd time this time. The theme that was carried out at the 3rd conference was bioenergy and environmentally friendly agriculture.
Rahayu Relawati as the chief executive explained that the purpose of this conference was as a springboard for exchanging information about agricultural and livestock sciences from within and outside the country. This conference brought 4 great speakers from UMM and also abroad. This conference was attended by hundreds of FPP students through a virtual application, namely, zoom meeting. However, some presenters attend offline.
This conference was opened by Vice Chancellor 1 Mr. Dr. Ir. Syamsul Arifin, M.Sc. he expressed his appreciation for this conference, with the hope that this conference would continue and not end until the activities on that day. "I hope this is not the last time, I am happy and appreciate the effort in this activity," said Syamsul. Then the event was opened by reciting Basmallah together and presentations from the presenters took place immediately.
The first speaker, namely Prof. Dr. Ir. Hj. Noor Harini, MS from UMM discussed functional food. For example, Mrs. Noor, functional food was the first material at the conference. Mrs. Noor explained that functional food is food that, in addition to providing nutrition and energy, can modulate one or more directed functions in the body by increasing certain physiological responses and/or by reducing the risk of disease. Many foods can be eaten, but less nutritious and unable to maintain immunity. So, functional food includes food that is safe for the body. This is because these foods can keep our bodies protected from other food toxins that we consume. This is very useful for connoisseurs of food that they are not allowed to eat carelessly.
Meanwhile Prof. Farhid Hemmatzadeh. DVM, Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide, Australia discussed the topic of the newly emerging Newcastle disease virus, now a global threat. This virus is found in farm animals such as chickens. This virus is very detrimental to both collectors and breeders. This viral disease is indeed a threat to chicken farmers in particular. Farhid also explained that this indicator of Newcastle disease attacks chickens.
The third speaker, Sawita Suwannarat, Ph.D, discussed cold plasma for controlling seed-borne diseases. This plasma can be useful for many fields, such as livestock products, seeds, plants, and many more. Sawita also explained in detail the classification of plasma and its components, as well as the chemical formula and its application. This plasma is very useful for keeping seeds in storage so they don't infect other seeds. If it is contagious, then when the seeds are planted the growth cannot be maximized.
Closing material from Dr. Ir. Joachim J. Schouteten closed the conference with an interesting topic, regarding consumer assessment of the experience of consuming food products. "The concept of a food product is a relationship with emotion, use, and appearance," said Joachim. In essence, it explains how consumers evaluate the product from product appearance, taste, product color, and more.
