Agricultural Competency And Innovation Degree, Pupuk Indonesia Involves Campus

Photo: Doc. Indonesian Fertilizer)

JAKARTA - The Fertinnovation Challenge 2021 agricultural research competition held by PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) has now reached its final stage. The competition, which started in October this year, has determined nine winning teams and seven prospective works.

Nugroho Christijanto, Deputy President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, said that the implementation of the 2021 Fertinnovation Challenge agricultural research competition is one of Pupuk Indonesia's programs which are currently focusing on research and innovation. Because research and innovation activities are one of the strategic pillars in the business transformation program.

According to Nugroho, the Fertinnovation Challenge is a commitment of the Pupuk Indonesia Group to grow and develop innovation and collaboration specifically with the millennial generation and the academic community and universities.

"This year 2021 will be the first year for an innovation competition that involves all universities in Indonesia. This competition targets agricultural innovation holistically from fertilizer production systems, precision agricultural technology and even aspects of the agricultural value chain," said Nugroho, in a press release in Jakarta, Tuesday 21 December.

Nugroho said that the 2021 Fertinnovation Challenge can strengthen positive synergies and collaborations between industry and academia in the future, and can give birth to inspirational figures, who have a good impact on the development and growth of Indonesia.

"We congratulate the younger students who won as well as all participants in the 2021 Fertinnovation Challenge. The most important thing from an idea is how to implement the idea into a work that has a real impact," said Nugroho.

The winner of this competition, according to Nugroho, is not only entitled to a prize, but also has the opportunity to obtain funding for research and incubation worth up to IDR 1.5 billion.

A total of 334 works enliven the Fertinnovation Challenge 2021 agricultural research competition. Of the 334 works, there were 99 works that passed the initial screening stage. All of these works come from around 22 universities or colleges throughout Indonesia, such as Aceh, Gorontalo, and even Sumbawa. The five universities that contributed the most works in this event were Brawijaya University, Bandung Institute of Technology, Gadjah Mada University, Sumbawa University of Technology, and Ten November Institute of Technology.

There are three categories that are contested in the 2021 Fertinnovation Challenge. First, Innovation in Smart and Precision Agriculture. Second, Innovation in Agriculture Value Chain. Third, Innovation in Fertilizer Production System. In addition, Pupuk Indonesia also gave appreciation to the seven winners with prospective works.

As a form of appreciation to the finalists, Pupuk Indonesia has prepared a total prize pool of IDR 300 million for the winners. In addition, the finalists also had the opportunity to get research incubation financing of up to Rp. 1.5 billion in the form of developing research ideas, exclusive internships, and coaching.

The winners for the Innovation in Smart and Precision Agriculture category are Ni Putu Eka Dwi Yanti and Oki Trisna Sekar Arum from Brawijaya University, the title of their work is Development of Sensors Based on Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Predicting the Condition of Soybean Crops and Its Relationship with Macro Fertilizer Needs.

While the Innovation in Agriculture Value Chain category was won by Astri Diani Nur Mufihah and Luvy Dellarosa from the Bandung Institute of Technology, the title of the paper was The Use of Organic Waste Compost as a Mixture of Raw Materials for Commercial Organic Fertilizer Production to Strengthen the Circular Economy of Municipal Waste Management and the Fertilizer Industry.

For the Innovation in Fertilizer Production System category, Fadhlih Al-Zaki Sitorus and Alfi Zahraini from Gadjah Mada University won with the title "NEOSFER" Nano Encapsulated Slow Release Fertilizer. Slow Release Fertilizer from Humic Acid Coal Encapsulated Nano Silicachitosan for Indonesian Precision Agriculture Applications.

While the seven teams with the most prospective works were won by Melati Julia Rahma and Jihan Valencia Amily from Brawijaya University, the Novandion Rafly Kurniawan and Muhammad Ainul Yaqin team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, and Sarono from Gadjah Mada University.