Jakarta, Heaptalk — Indonesia is known as an agriculture country where it becomes the main sector of the economy. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), the contribution of agriculture regarding Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on the 2022 current price (ADHB) had reached 12,4% where the number went down for 0,88% compared to previous years (year-on-year).
The result is closely related with the industry productivity that is still considered low. Even though Indonesia becomes the biggest rice producer in ASEAN, the national rice productivity is still below Southeast Asian countries namely Vietnam and Thailand.
Several factors that caused the low agriculture productivity in the country include the left behind technology for agriculture and inefficient land management. The majority of farmer and business participants have yet used the latest technology that could help their bountiful harvest. This needs to be supported with various improvements in the agriculture sector with a collaborative effort between parties, such as farmers and business participants’ awareness concerning the importance of using modern agriculture technology and land management optimization.
To support the improvement of this sector, PT Inagro Cipta Nusantara partnered with an agri-technology company based in Australia, DataFarming, on utilizing satellite data to increase agricultural productivity.
On Thursday (04/01), PT. Inagro in its written statement stated, “With their Geographic Information System (GIS), DataFarming allows PT Inagro Cipta Nusantara to provide solutions in terms of developing and managing land as well as better precision farming methods.”
DataFarming created Digital AgronomistTM, a platform designed for all farmers and agronomists, providing agriculture maps from satellite with NDVI (vegetation index that describes the greenness of plants) that targets problems and monitors agricultural land or plantations that is updated for every five years. This technology can find problems in the field, drought, and land quality that provides important knowledge from spatial data and agriculture maps.
Tim Neale, CEO of DataFarming, explained, “With so many satellites circling the earth now, we can see a lot of things from above, even the detailed things. From monitoring the rice growth every few days, to the safety of oil palm plants. However, the most important thing is to give information and insights as well as proper handling in the field to provide solutions regarding challenges Indonesia needs to face. We are very grateful to be able to partner with PT Inagro Cipta Nusanta to make all these things happen. As an Australian company located not far from Indonesia, collaborating with PT Inagro Cipta Nusantara is the most reasonable reason to improve food security, bio-energy solutions, and other sustainable things in Indonesia.”
Dedi Rahadian, CEO of PT Inagro Cipta Nusantara, added, “Our partnership with DataFarming is one of our commitments to Indonesia’s agriculture. With a precision agriculture solution by DataFarming, we can see farming lands that require special attention, so that we can aid companies and agricultural industry players in developing, managing, and improving performance and their land productivity.”
With knowledge achieved from said technology, PT Inagro Cipta Nusanta can analyze farming lands and give the best solutions, including agronomists, harvest, and logistics. Synergy created by DataFarming and PT Inagro Cipta Nusantara is hoped to become an example of partnership that can enhance Indonesia’s agricultural productivity and competitiveness of Indonesian agricultural products in the global market.
Editorial team: Wulan Dari, Prazna Alyfia Ghefira
