Postgraduate Program of Faculty of Animal Science UGM held a public lecture with the theme “Implementation of Radiation in Feed Plant Breeding and Its Prospects in the Future.” The meeting was held online on Monday, March 8, 2021. The Head of the UGM Animal Science Master Study Program, Ir. Nafiatul Umami, S.Pt., M.P., Ph.D., IPM., together with researcher from the Center for Isotope and Radiation Applications of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (PAIR BATAN), Dr. Teguh Wahyono, S.Pt., M.Si. be a speaker at the event.
One of the applications of radiation in forage plant breeding is the use of gamma radiation. It is based on the nature of radiation, which is ionizing radiation, has good penetrability, and can interact with water, DNA, chromosomes, and cells. Another thing that was revealed is related to mutations. Mutations can help develop new, superior plant varieties.
Forage plant breeding in Indonesia has been able to produce several new, superior plants. Examples are elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and king grass (Pennisetum purpupoides) which can withstand drought and lamtoro which can withstand acidic soils. The forage plant variety that has been released in Indonesia is the Steno Agrinak grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum var Steno Agrinak) developed by the Agricultural Research and Development Agency. The speakers said that the application of radiation to feed developed along with the development of technology and still had bright prospects.