Started from Bogasari Nugraha
IRN is the development of a similar program, namely Bogasari Nugraha which initiated in 1998 from the idea of Mr. Franciscus Welirang, Director of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk/ Head Division of Bogasari, and Prof. Dr. Ir. FG Winarno.
The first program of Bogasari Nugraha was held in the form of Best Researcher Competition in wheat and wheat flour involving cooperation between Bogasari, the Office of the State Minister for Food & Horticulture, and also Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) within 10 years timeframe (1988-1998).
A total of 28 research works were proposed, including the phenomenal research on wheat planting opportunities in Indonesia which then applied as Wheat Project 2.000 Bogasari. Application of this project is wheat planting in several locations, which are acquired from the cooperation with the Bogor Agricultural University, University of Brawijaya, Satya Wacana Christian University Salatiga, and Sebelas Maret University Surakarta, in the form of laboratory trials and have consumable results.
Along the way, based on the recommendation from National Symposium on Food Diversification in year 2002, which was held jointly with Food Security Council, National Research Council, and PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk – Bogasari Flour Mills Division expanded the research coverage to a variety of local commodities, in order to support government programs related to national food security. Until 2005, Bogasari Nugraha has funded hundreds of undergraduate researchers to Doctoral and Professor Level of Public and Private Universities as well as researchers from other institutions who have publicly published their best research.
Becoming Indofood Riset Nugraha
Year 2006 is the momentum for Bogasari Nugraha’s development program in “scaling up” from the level of division to corporate. The program’s name therefore changes to Indofood Riset Nugraha (IRN). Not only that scaling up cause the fund to increase, but also the number of commodities in the research increased based on the development of local food diversification.
The strength of IRN lies in the theme of each period which is aligned with the national food issues as effort to achieve sustainable and value-added food diversification, based on local commodities that are potential to support food security, such as rice, corn, cassava, banana, soybean, sweet potatoes, potatoes, arrowroot/ canna, and milk and its products. In addition to agricultural, livestock based research and fisheries become the materials which are covered through the areas of: Food Technology and Nutrition Society, Socio-Economic-Cultural, Agricultural, Production Technology, Livestock, and Marine-based food.
The phenomenal achievement attained by this program includes the award of “Asia Responsible & Enterprise Award” from Asia Enterprise in 2011 for the category of Investment & People Award, which is an appreciation for industries that have the commitment to reduce poverty and increase performance. In the same year, IRN was also awarded “Anugrah Peduli Pendidikan” from Ministry of National Education, which is an appreciation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in education.
