Proud Of National Biodiversity, BRIN: Local Bananas In Indonesia Are More Than 300 Types

Illustration. Bananas are ready for exports managed by companies and cooperatives in Tanggamus, Lampung. ANTARA/Ruth Intan Sozometa Kanafi.

JAKARTA - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) revealed that Indonesia is one of the countries that has a fairly high biodiversity. There are natural potentials that grow wildly in the forest and have been domesticated for the benefit of humans. Horticulture and Plantation Perset BRIN Agus Sutanto said local bananas are one of Indonesia's biodiversity assets spread from Sumatra to Papua. "Local participants are widely spread throughout Indonesia with a number of probably more than 300 types," he said in a statement Thursday, October 5, quoted by Antara. Agus said, some local bananas are characteristic of an area, such as goroho bananas in North Sulawesi (Sulut). The banana has spread and has been used by the community for chips and even rice replacement food in the morning. Then, there are also great bananas from Lumajang, wooden banana biu from Bali and spread to West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), as well as celestial banana from Maluku which also grew to Papua. BRIN utilizes local banana genetic resources to produce plants that are more superior to being tolerant of biotic and abiotic cloves, one of which is the Tanjung kepok banana for blood disease control. "We have considerable genetic resources, both wild and local bananas. Therefore, we need to carry out exploration activities," said Agus. Head of the Research Center for Horticulture and Plantation BRIN Dwinita Wikan Utami said that horticultural commodities in Indonesia actually play an important role in meeting food, nutrition, health, and economic needs. This has been proven during the COVID-19 pandemic in the horticultural sector as a support for the economy that has contributed to economic growth. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the growth of gross domestic product in the agricultural sector between the first and second quarters of 2020, is at 16.24 percent. The increase was supported by food sub-sector growth of 34.77 percent, horticulture 21.75 percent, and plantations 23.46 percent. Meanwhile, other sectors experienced negative growth due to the pandemic. "Gross domestic economic growth has increased compared to other sectors. This shows that the horticultural sector has an important role in supporting the national economy," said Dwinita.

He further said that Indonesia has a lot of local fruit diversity which has not yet been revealed. Through the disclosure of the potential and study of genetic diversity, it is hoped that it will know its potential and utilization. Potential disclosure activities are in line with conservation goals to be relevant to plant breeding activities. "Production of seeds cannot be separated, which is also a key factor in the development of new kultivares," he concluded.