Komdigi Encourages Farmers To Take ADVANTAGE Of IoT And AI Technology Through The Digital Farmer Program

JAKARTA - Through the Digital Farmers program, the Ministry of Communication and Digital supports national food security to transform agriculture by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

In addition to agricultural efficiency, the Minister of Trade, Meutya Hafid, emphasized that technology such as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) is very much needed to increase the competitiveness of Indonesian farmers.

The new technology is not only wanging, but must be grounded. The Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are new technologies that we must take advantage of in order to have a direct impact on people's productivity," Meutya said in her official broadcast.

One of the tools used in this program is the IoT Smart Precision Agriculture System, local innovation made by the nation's children, which has proven to be able to increase agricultural productivity, reduce costs, and maintain environmental sustainability.

Not only increasing productivity, this tool is also said to reduce the use of fertilizers by up to 50 percent, as well as reducing carbon emissions and water pollution from the use of excess fertilizers.

This program is a collaboration between the Ministry of Communication and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Sragen Regency Government, and technology provider partners in an effort to strengthen national food security based on data.

"These are local startups. If we want to realize food sovereignty, the technology must also be sovereign. These young people have proven that local startups can really provide solutions," he said.

One of the farmers from Sragen Regency, Tri Widodo, also explained directly the difference in the significant use of fertilizers with savings of around 40 percent.

Before I used Jinawi's digital tool, the fertilizer (cost expenditure) per one hectare was 1.05 tons. After using this tool, I used 650 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare," he explained.