Jakarta, July 8 -- Indonesia's Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has called on Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman to involve more young people and academics in the research and development (R&D) of the agricultural sector.

Speaking during a farmers' dialogue in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday, Gibran said the province's strong academic presence should be leveraged to support agricultural innovation, especially in the development of sugarcane-derived products like bioethanol.

"I want to stress this, Mr. Minister - get more young people involved, especially now that we're using modern equipment, mechanized tools, and drones," he said.

He added that seed development and downstream processing for sugarcane-based ethanol are two ar...