Preface

Abstract

International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security (AEFS) is a conference organized by Faculty of Agriculture Universitas Sumatera Utara which aimed to offer the opportunity for knowledge sharing, networking and collaboration between engineers, scientists, academicians, technologists and researchers working in agriculture, environment, and food technology sectors. AEFS has been held annually since 2017. The AEFS Conference deliberations for the last two year were on the following themes: agriculture, plantation and livestock for world food security (AEFS 2017) prospects and challenges of sustainable agriculture to improve food security and environment (AEFS 2018). For the 3rd AEFS 2019, the committee has chosen “Challenges on Food Security and Sovereignty in the Industrial Era 4.0” while for the 4th AEFS the theme was focused on Innovation and Technologies on Agricultural and Environmental Sustainability Systems with 6 selected tracks including Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Plant Science (Agronomy and Plantation, Plant Breeding, Biotechnology, Integrated Pest Management and Soil Science), Animal Science, Food Science and Technology, Marine and Fisheries Sciences. The 4th International Conference on Agricultural, Environment, and Food Security (AEFS) 2020 have had to be held as fully virtual conference because of travel restrictions both domestically and overseas in many countries due to COVID-19 pandemic. Indonesia government has closed its border and banned the large-scale events/gathering (include academic activities) especially in big cities to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19. Since March 2020, academic activities in Indonesia have been held virtually. Universities are closed, the academics and researchers have to work from home. But this condition can’t stop the academics and researchers in agriculture, environment, and food technology to create various innovations. A virtual conference is the answer to provide the opportunities for academicians and researchers in those fields who are unable to participate in the physical conference and to continue to make various contributions in science due to COVID-19. Agriculture, environment and food security are very important to support human activities, there’s an urgency to always continue the various development and innovations especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the IC-AEFS has entered its 4th year. Since the beginning of 2020, before COVID-19 outbreak, many researchers and scientists from Indonesia and overseas has expected and planned to participate in IC-AEFS 2020 to publish their research so it can be accessed globally. If the 4th AEFS postponed, it would make many parties disappointed and could severely degrade the research and publication performance of scientists and academician during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this condition, the organizing committee decide to held the conference virtually. By continuing to hold the 4th IC-AEFS in 2020 virtually, scientists and academicians can stay motivated to continue their research and publication despite all of the limitations. The 4th IC-AEFS was held on Thursday, October 8th 2020 from 8 am to 6 pm in the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia. “Innovation and Technologies on Sustainable Agricultural and Environmental Systems” was chosen as the main theme. The 4th ICAEFS used zoom virtual meeting platform to deliver the virtual conference. The virtual conference worked very much the same as the non-virtual conference. This conference had plenary and parallel session. The plenary session was consisted of 2 session with 4 keynote speakers. The keynote speakers for the 1st session were Prof. Taifo Mahmud from Oregon State University and Prof. Renato Andrin Villano from University of New England, while the keynote speakers for the 2nd session were Riswanti Sigalingging, Ph.D., and Prof. Frans Maathuis from University of York. Each of keynote speaker was given 30 minutes to deliver their speech. The plenary session was moderated by Diana Chalil, Ph.D. from Universitas Sumatera Utara. For the parallel session, there were 12 rooms led by 1 moderator and 1 PIC in every room. They were the key people to maintain the room and make sure all the presenters had received the zoom meeting link to join and present their paper. Every author/presenter was given 10 minutes to present their paper (in detail: 7 minutes to present their paper and 3 minutes to answer other participant questions in Q&A session). There were 2 presentation options for the presenter. They could present their paper directly in the zoom meeting or play their recorded presentation video. The second option was made by the committee to prevent technical issue because of internet connection. The participants received the zoom virtual meeting link to sign in and join the conference. For plenary session, the discussions and Q&A sessions was held for 30 minutes after the keynote speaker given the speech. For parallel session, it’s conducted 3 minutes to answer other participant questions in Q&A session. Participants were allowed to ask the keynote speaker/presenter using the chat room or ask directly by press the raise hand button. When using the “raise hand” button, moderator unmute the participant and allowed them to ask directly. In total, there were 286 participants took part in IC AEFS 2020. There were incorporated 40 universities and 24 companies where 54 from Indonesia and 10 from overseas, namely Universitas Sumatera Utara, Halu Oleo University, Padjajaran University, STIKES Karya Kesehatan Kendari, Centre for Assessment and Development of Agricultural Technology, IPB University, Indonesia Agency for Agriculture Research and Development, Universitas Gajah Mada, AIAT Padang, ICATAC Bogor, Bali Assesment Institute of Agriculture Technology, Universitas Medan Area, Watershed Belawan, Nusa Cendana University, Assesment Institute for Agriculture Technology East Nusa Tenggara, Agricultural Technology Papua, Institut Teknologi Nasional Yogyakarta, BPTP Banten, BPTP Jambi, Universitas Andalas, Balai Karantina Ikan dan Pengendalian Mutu Regional Surabaya I, Research Institute Lembang, Forest Research and Development Centre Bogor, Research Centre for Biology Bogor, Samara State Agrarian University, K.G. Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management, Academy of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Diyala University Iraq, Bilad Al Rafidain University College Iraq, University PGRI Palembang, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara, Universitas Sriwijaya, Research Center for Sub-Optimal Lands Sriwijaya University, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Pembinaan Masyarakat Indonesia, Balitbang LHK Aek Nauli, UNRI, Assesment Institute for Agricultural Technology Central Sulawesi, Universitas Bengkulu, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, Universitas Hasanuddin, University of Insan Cendekia Mandiri, Universitas Indonesia, Unimal, Wilmar Bussiness Indonesia Polytechnic, IAIN Batusangkar, PT. Alam Indo Lestari, Universitas Cut Nyak Dien, Pesona Tropis, University of Kerbala Iraq, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Lampung Assessment Institute, Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Pertanian Agrobisnis Perkebunan, BLI KLHK Bogor, Saint Petersburg State University, Forest Research and Development Center Bogor, Indonesia Industry and Beverage Crops Research Institute, Sukabumi, Indonesian Medicinal and Aromatic Crops Research Institute Bogor, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, UNUSU, bnu Khaldun University, University Mohammed 1st Oujda, Morocco, Gorsky State Agrarian University, and Vladikavkaz Scientific Center of Russian Academic of Sciences. The 4th IC-AEFS was successfully held on Thursday, October 8th 2020. There were no major technical difficulties during the conference. Participants from outside Medan and overseas remarked that virtual conference feels more accessible than the non-virtual conference (physical conference). This shows how virtual conference can be a paradigm shift on how conferences in the future look especially during Covid-19 pandemic. AEFS 2020 Committee List of titles Honorary Board, Steering Committee, Organizing Committee, Scientific Committee, Editorial and Reviewing Committee, Supported by are available in this Pdf.