Lentera DESA UGM, in collaboration with the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), organized an initiative to gather stories from inspiring farmers to strengthen the MAPAN (Masa Depan Pangan/Future of Food) movement on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Focusing on millennial farmers, this event serves as concrete evidence of how field success stories can be translated into national policy recommendations.

MAPAN is a movement initiated by Center for Indonesian Policy Studies that aims to transform Indonesia’s food narrative through the principle “from real stories to evidence, from evidence to collective action.” The initiative identifies innovative agricultural practices from real farmers, analyzes them as empirical evidence, and promotes them as scalable models for public policy. MAPAN seeks to improve productivity, expand farmers’ financial access, and strengthen sustainable markets while addressing challenges such as youth urbanization and land degradation. read more

In the Biotechnology Seminar series at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada (Faperta UGM), the second session featured Dr. Chiho Suzuki-Minakuchi from the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo. Her presentation, titled “Survival Strategies of Xenobiotic-Degrading Bacteria: Heterogeneity in Plasmid-Borne Catabolic Ability,” examined how environmental bacteria adapt to xenobiotic stress through complex genetic and regulatory mechanisms. read more

In the third session of the Biotechnology Seminar hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada (Faperta UGM), Dr. Kengo Inoue from the Faculty of Agriculture, Miyazaki University presented his research on electrogenic microbial communities in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) systems. His work demonstrates the dual functionality of these systems in treating liquid waste while simultaneously generating electrical energy.

Dr. Inoue explained that MFC systems operated continuously for more than three years were able to maintain stable and high performance. During that period, an enrichment of specific microorganisms occurred, particularly methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria, which play a vital role in maintaining system stability. The presence of these two microbial groups not only increases the efficiency of organic compound degradation in liquid waste but also strengthens the system’s capacity to produce clean energy. read more