The Biology Program conducted its fourteenth Professionalism Training for students on November 6, 2021, with the theme “The Role of Nuclear Technology in Food Crop Breeding.” The guest speaker for this training was Mr. Wijaya Murti Indriatama, S.P., M.Si, a researcher from BATAN Lebak Bulus. The event started at 09:00 via Zoom. It began with the agenda overview presented by Nur Fiddarayni, followed by the Indonesian national anthem and the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta hymn. The program continued with an address by the Head of the Biology Program, Mrs. Najda Rifqiyati, S.Si., M.Si. In her speech, the program head expressed the hope that students and alumni participating in this event would absorb the knowledge shared by the speaker.

The session proceeded with the speaker’s CV introduction by Ms. Dian Aruni Kumalawati, M.Sc., followed by the presentation of the material. The speaker began by explaining nuclear technology, which involves the smallest part of an atom, having mass and producing radiation through nuclear reactions. Nuclear technology can be applied in agriculture, particularly through Irradiation Techniques and Tracer Techniques. For medicinal plants, isotopic applications help identify active compounds. In livestock farming, isotopes and radiation are used to create vaccines. Additionally, the speaker discussed mutation induction for plant breeding, aiming to enhance genetic diversity.

In Indonesia, mutation breeding aims to improve characteristics, seed quality, and resistance to biotic stress. From 1982 to 2021, mutation breeding efforts have resulted in 33 rice varieties, 14 soybean varieties, 3 sorghum varieties, 2 mung bean varieties, 1 peanut variety, 1 wheat variety, 1 cotton variety, and 1 banana variety.