Research Articles

Developing sustainable regional agro-industrial practices is essential for countries like Indonesia. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), significant for food security and commercial use, continues to demonstrate productivity levels beneath worldwide benchmarks. This research assesses the sustainability of Lampung’s cassava agro-industry by integrating Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied for Classification (MICMAC). MDS generates a sustainability index including ecological, economic, social, technological, and institutional dimensions. MICMAC analysis determines causal interdependencies among attributes and categorizes them based on driving power and dependence. Data obtained from expert questionnaires and focus group discussions conducted between January and March 2024 indicated a moderate sustainability index of 63.5%. The environmental dimension achieved the highest score of 72.7%, while the technological and institutional dimensions obtained the lowest at 55.03% and 55.2% respectively. The main variables influencing sustainability consist of energy efficiency, waste management, market orientation, and the skill levels of the workforce. The combination of MDS and MICMAC offers an extensive diagnostic and structural perspective. This study proposes recommendations for energy schemes, the development of managerial training programs, and the strengthening of institutional policies. The insights have significance for the development of the cassava agro-industry in Lampung and comparable regions.

Bamboo has become increasingly attractive for applications in construction and engineering due to its rapid growth, renewability, and a high strength-to-weight ratio. However, the poor natural resistance to mold limits its potential in the building industry. Conventional antifungal and decay-resistant treatments developed by domestic and international researchers often suffer from drawbacks such as human and environmental toxicity or poor leaching resistance. In this study, aiming to enhance the decay and mold resistance of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), a high-voltage electrostatic field was employed to excite metallic particles and embed them into the bamboo surface and interior, where they formed stable chemical bonds with active functional groups. White-rot fungi, brown-rot fungi, and Aspergillus flavus were used to assess resistance, with environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and other techniques employed to evaluate antifungal performance. Results indicated that bamboo treated at the voltage of 60 kV for 12 h exhibited decay and mold resistance slightly lower than that of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated bamboo but higher than that of untreated bamboo; while high-voltage electrostatic-treated bamboo possessed superior leaching resistance compared with CCA-treated bamboo.