The Rector of Udayana University Held a Meeting with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research

Rector of Udayana University Prof. I Nyoman Gde Antara accompanied by the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs received an audience from representatives of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) at the Jimbaran Campus Rectorate Building, Monday (14/03/2022).

This hearing is in the context of a research collaboration initiated by ACIAR which will be carried out within the next 5 years which is expected to start in July 2022. Previously, Udayana University and ACIAR had collaborated for a period of one year ending in 2021. Cooperation carried out in the previous period was a small-scale research involving Prof. Dr. I Made Supartha Utama, MS, PhD as an expert from Udayana University who helps in the integrated development of the agribusiness and tourism sectors in Bali.

Jeremy Badgery-Parker from ACIAR said that the purpose of the hearing was to develop joint research with Udayana University, particularly research collaborations focused on cooperation between agriculture and the Bali tourism industry, so that the two sectors could synergize well in the future. It is known that the tourism industry as a farmer partner has a problem, namely the lack of value network capacity that allows mutually beneficial collaboration between the two sectors. Farmers and the tourism industry are currently not able to communicate well, therefore, through a project that will be carried out by ACIAR in collaboration with Udayana University, it is hoped that farmers and the tourism industry can sit down together to see problems, and find the best solutions to build value networks. The choice of Bali as the research site is considering that Bali has a lot of experience related to the interaction of the agricultural and tourism sectors.

Rector of Udayana University Prof. I Nyoman Gde Antara on this occasion conveyed his support for the sustainability plan of the collaboration with a focus on research collaboration. The involvement of Udayana University Resources in conducting research, especially research abroad is a step that needs to be appreciated. In this case, the Rector also said that there were foreign research funding posts that could be identified which could later be facilitated by submitting a proposal to LP2M Udayana University.