On Monday (February 18th), the Opening Ceremony of the 58th Batch of the Politeknik Statistika STIS (Polstat STIS) Field Work Practice (PKL) for the 2018/2019 Academic Year took place at the Bali Governor's Office, specifically at the Wiswa Sabha Building in Denpasar City. The opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Governor of Bali Province, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, and the Head of the Central Statistics Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (BPS RI), Dr. Suhariyanto. Also in attendance were officials from the Bali Provincial Government, all Heads of Regency/City BPS, and Heads of Divisions within the Bali Provincial BPS. A total of 205 Polstat STIS students, who are assigned to Denpasar City and Badung Regency, attended the opening ceremony.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Erni Tri Astuti, M. Math, Director of Polstat STIS, introduced Polstat STIS as a civil service college under the auspices of the Statistics Indonesia (BPS), which was established in 1958. She also explained that the fieldwork experience (PKL) will be held in five regions of Bali Province: Denpasar City, Badung Regency, Gianyar Regency, Tabanan Regency, and Klungkung Regency. The theme of the PKL is "A New Era of Food Data: Implementation of an Area Sampling Framework and a Study of Cropping Patterns and Characteristics of Rice Farmers." The PKL will run from February 18 to March 1, 2019, and will be attended by 519 students from the Diploma IV Program (Statistics Study Program and Statistical Computation Study Program) and the Diploma III Program (Statistics Study Program).

The Head of BPS RI further stated that some time ago, the President of the Republic of Indonesia instructed relevant institutions to improve the quality of food data. BPS, along with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), is following up on this by implementing an Area Sampling Framework (KSA) using the latest technology, a collaboration between BIG, LAPAN, BPPT, and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/BPN. Finally, in October 2018, BPS released food data again (after a two-year hiatus) and received positive acclaim both domestically and internationally. He stated that the fieldwork experience (PKL) conducted by Polstat STIS students aimed to improve on BPS's previous efforts. First, subjective measurements conducted by officers based on images taken with mobile phones will be enhanced with the use of machine learning, where rice growth phases will be determined based on similarities with one million previous photos used as a database. This will ensure more objective measurements.

Another advantage of this fieldwork experience is its digital-based survey. Field enumeration is paperless, conducted using the CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing) application. The Head of BPS RI also added that Bali was chosen as the research location because this province, which excels in the tourism sector, is a major rice producer outside of Java. Fieldwork is certainly not easy, as Bali's terrain, with its terraced agricultural lands, poses a unique challenge to the fieldwork methodology. "Polstat STIS students are educated as academics and future civil servants. Adhere to the principles of statisticians and the statistical principles they have studied over the past three years. Independence is paramount!" he emphasized. The Head of BPS RI also emphasized the importance of maintaining good attitudes and respecting local customs and wisdom, emphasizing that being intelligent is not enough for an Polstat STIS student.

Finally, the Deputy Governor of Bali expressed concern about the ongoing pressure on Bali's agriculture sector due to the rapid growth of the tourism sector. Undeniably, the development of the tourism sector has brought Bali to its current state of development. However, this development has had a significant impact on the lives of the Balinese people. Agricultural land is decreasing due to the rapid conversion of land for tourism infrastructure. This has resulted in the erosion of the subak (subak), a Balinese cultural heritage recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world heritage site. He added that Bali's current agricultural development policy is geared toward improving farmer welfare while simultaneously preserving and harmonizing Bali's natural and cultural landscape. Therefore, the availability of quality data is essential for both development planning and evaluation. He also hopes that the results of this fieldwork experience will provide additional references for policy development, particularly those related to agriculture. At the end of his remarks, the Deputy Governor of Bali officially opened the series of data collection activities within the framework of fieldwork experience A.

In addition to the opening ceremony held in Denpasar City, opening ceremonies were also held at other PKL locations. In Gianyar Regency, the ceremony was attended by 29 students assigned to the regency. The ceremony began with a flag-raising ceremony at 8:00 a.m. WITA (Central Indonesian Time), led by Ir. Ni Nyoman Yuniari, Head of the Administration Sub-Division, and was followed by a briefing by the Team Coordinator and BPS regarding the implementation of each research activity. Meanwhile, in Klungkung Regency, the ceremony took place at 8:40 a.m. WITA and was led by the Head of the Administration Sub-Division, I Made Suantara, SE. The ceremony in Klungkung Regency was attended by 83 participants, including Diploma III students and 18 BPS staff members from Klungkung Regency.