Insect-pests - Biology East Borneo

44 General Conclusions
and symposia proceedings, mostly in Bahasa
Indonesia, the benefits of broader expert review of
the research are not captured. While there are
numerous publications, the scientific quality of many
is inadequate. Although there are some high quality
publications that contribute to advancement of
knowledge or solving problems, there are also many
publications that are premature, and many
recommendations that are impracticable, ineffective
or prohibitively expensive.
5.3. Future outlook
To meet the needs of expanding plantations, more
attention needs to be paid to promoting research on
pests and diseases. This calls for a dialogue between
Government, universities and plantation companies
to formulate appropriate approaches. An immediate
need is to set up a plantation health monitoring system
for Indonesia covering pests and diseases, and
plantation failures due to other causes. This has the
support of some plantation companies. Some
fundamental research is needed to complement
problem-solving research, for example, to create a
scientific database and expertise for identification of
disease organisms and insects, many of which are
poorly identified. Although plantation companies may
be interested in immediate problem solving research,
the approach should be to simultaneously strengthen
indigenous research capability and infrastructure for
long-term benefits.