IPB's corn noodles win int'l contest

Novia D. Rulistia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 07/19/2009 11:27 AM | Discover

Students of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) started producing instant corn noodle to alleviate malnutrition-related health problems and the product won the international food technology contest.

Galih Nugroho, Ari Try Purbayanto, Riza Aris Apriady, Kamalita Pertiwi and Catherine Haryasyah produced instant corn noodle which has been fortified with various microorganism.

They presented their 6-page paper on the innovation at the IFP Annual Meeting and Food Expo organized by the Institute of Technologists in the United States. Their innovation ranked third in the competition, after the Netherlands and South Africa.

"We're so excited. It's a tough competition but we know we were ready to compete and we knew we could compete as we've prepared at our utmost," Galih said.

"We have done some research about many health problems in Southeast Asia countries and we found that there are still many cases about food nutrition deficiency. So we decided to take this as our case," said the eight semester student at IPB's food technology study.

To make it more specific, he said, the group focused on food nutrition deficiency in pregnant women as most cases were found in them.

"They are the medium to carry the micro nutrition for their future babies," he said.

Through the product, Galih said, the mothers-to-be could consume a lot of nutrition up to three times a week which were important during pregnancy.

Corn noodle was first brought on to research table in 1998 with several researchers from IPB involved in the project.

To make the noodle, the team use corn flour and mixed it with protein-fortified egg flour and add to it several nutrition. Next, the dough is undergoing an extrusion process, a process to create a certain texture by pressing all materials.

The production takes around one-and-a-half to two hours.

"The process is not that hard, the ingredients are affordable so that the price of the noodle is also affordable," said Galih, adding that its economical side was one of the reasons they won the contest.

The other considerations were because they make the full use of local resources, the technology can be easily used by people, and of their free-preservative but full of protein product.

Although the five have got international acknowledgement for the innovation, further research is still needed to optimize the instant corn noodle before it hits the market.

"We hope with this, the death of pregnant women suffering from malnutrition can be decreasing."

Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono said during a recent ceremony to honor the achievement that the government was encouraging industry players to adopt the new technology so that the product could be soon available in the community.

Schools forbidden from seeking fees

Khairul Saleh , The Jakarta Post , Palembang | Wed, 07/01/2009 12:14 PM | The Archipelago

South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin issued a stern warning Tuesday to schools to not demand school admission fees under any circumstances, once the free education program comes into effect in the coming school year.

"We will meet out punitive and administrative sanctions on schools that breach the rule, particularly those demanding fees from new students for no clear reasons," Alex said. "Schools will only be allowed to charge fees that are effectively contributions, but should discuss the matter with parents and get their prior consent."

He added thorough understanding and full support from all regencies and municipalities were essential to facilitating and implementing the free education program.

To educate the public on the free education concept, the governor's office will conduct routine evaluations of the implementation of the program, as well as of the free healthcare program, in 15 regencies and municipalities in South Sumatra.

Alex said lack of understanding on the part of the public, as well as by regency and municipal administrations over the free education program could raise differing perceptions and interpretations.

The program is not intended to lower the education standard, as critics have claimed, but to further improve education quality through continuous supervision, according to the governor, with program implementers required to stick to the existing guidelines.

Armansyah, 35, a resident of Sukabangun district in the provincial capital Palembang, expressed doubt that the program could be implemented effectively, adding the junior high school where he planned to enroll his child would still demand an enrollment fee.

"The amount is still unclear, but a number of parents have raised the issue that they were charged these fees," said Armansyah, a trader at a traditional market in the city.

"We're afraid the program will not run effectively, due to these demands for payment."

Maryati, a resident of Demang Lebar Daun, also in Palembang, concurred, saying her two children had registered at a senior high school the previous week, and several parents had also complained about the existing enrollment fees. "The fees are still there, though it's not ethical to mention the amount," she said.

The provincial administration has set allocated Rp 188 billion (US$1.8 million) to be spent on 1,680,165 students in private and state schools, from the elementary to senior high levels, in the province's 15 regencies and municipalities.

Only national standard (SSN) and international standard preparatory (RSBI) schools are allowed to ask for school fees and payments for other expenses.

The monthly financial aid per student will be Rp 10,000 for a elementary school students, Rp 15,000 for a junior high school student, Rp 80,000 for a senior high school student, and Rp 90,000 for a vocational school student.

The South Sumatra administration has issued a bylaw earlier this year on the implementation and service of the free education program, and applied it across South Sumatra.