Jakarta, February 4, 2026 – PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) once again held the “FertInnovation Challenge 2025,” which was participated in by more than 1,620 innovators ranging from students, researchers, and professionals to startups from various institutions both domestically and internationally. Through this innovation convention, Pupuk Indonesia aims to strengthen the agricultural innovation ecosystem and national food self-sufficiency.

“FertInnovation Challenge is not merely an innovation competition, but a strategic instrument for the company to build a research and innovation pipeline relevant to the challenges of the agricultural sector and the national fertilizer industry. This event aligns with Pupuk Indonesia’s commitment to supporting national food self-sufficiency through strengthening innovation, technology, and cross-stakeholder collaboration,” said Pupuk Indonesia’s Director of Engineering and Business Development, Jamsaton Nababan, during the FertInnovation Challenge 2025 Awarding Ceremony in Jakarta on Wednesday (4/2/2026).

In organizing the FertInnovation Challenge 2026, Pupuk Indonesia collaborated with the Indonesia Agrichemical Research Institute (IARI). This biennial platform serves as a medium for Pupuk Indonesia to drive innovation-based agricultural transformation.

The event is designed as a strategic open innovation platform to absorb transformative ideas from external innovators, as well as to address sustainability challenges and Indonesia’s major agenda of food self-sufficiency.

This year, FertInnovation Challenge carries the theme “Cultivating Innovation, Achieving Food Self-Sufficiency.” The high level of enthusiasm was reflected in cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional participation contributing across all categories.

The four strategic categories in this competition are Precision Agriculture & Digital Farming, Climate Resilience & Sustainable Fertilizer, AI-Driven Agri Supply Chain, and Process & Plant Engineering. Each submitted innovation underwent a staged selection process, from administrative screening to final pitching.

“These four categories are designed to address innovation needs from upstream to downstream — ranging from precision cultivation techniques, fertilizer distribution systems and supply chains, environmental sustainability, to process reliability and production facility performance,” said Jamsaton.

The innovators received prizes totaling billions of rupiah, with the Best Innovation (First Place) in each category receiving Rp30 million, Second Place receiving Rp20 million, and Third Place receiving Rp10 million per category.

In addition to appreciation for the winners, FertInnovation Challenge 2025 also opens opportunities for incubation and further collaboration, enabling selected ideas to be developed into real industrial solutions with funding support of up to Rp2 billion.

Jamsaton conveyed that FertInnovation Challenge serves as a cross-sector collaboration space that brings together industry, academia, researchers, and policymakers within an integrated innovation ecosystem. FertInnovation Challenge is not merely a competition, but part of an effort to build a collaborative, sustainable, and impactful innovation ecosystem.

“We believe that innovations born from FertInnovation will make tangible contributions to improving production process efficiency, strengthening fertilizer distribution system resilience, enhancing environmental sustainability, and increasing national agricultural productivity,” Jamsaton emphasized.

He stressed that this year’s event further reinforces Pupuk Indonesia’s role as an innovation enabler in the agribusiness sector. Through an open innovation approach, the company encourages collaboration among academics, researchers, and practitioners to accelerate research downstreaming and create economic and social added value for the community.

“We hope that the efforts and collaborations we build through FertInnovation will become an important part of realizing a more innovative, competitive, and sustainable Pupuk Indonesia, while supporting national food security,” Rahmad concluded.

LIST OF WINNERS – FERTINNOVATION CHALLENGE 2025

PRECISION & DIGITAL FARMING CATEGORY

1st Place

NilamGuard: Multi-Sensor Fusion System for Early Detection of Patchouli Diseases, Precision Fertilization, and Optimization of Patchouli Oil at the Farmer Level – Academic – Syiah Kuala University.

2nd Place

Leaf-In: An AI-Driven Optical Leaf Sensing System for Multicrop Nitrogen Status Prediction and Precision Fertilizer Decision Support (Case Study: Robusta Coffee Plantations reducing fertilizer use by up to 73%) – Startup – Precision Agriculture Indonesia.

3rd Place

AI-Driven Agricultural Intelligence: Optimizing Harvest through Deep Learning-Based Disease Detection and Crop Quantification – Academic – Del Institute of Technology.

CLIMATE RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABLE FERTILIZER CATEGORY

1st Place

Bio-Silica: Silicon-Enriched Biochar from Red Mud for Sustainable Peatland Agriculture Supporting Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation – Academic – Tanjungpura University.

2nd Place

Development of Sustainable Potassium Fertilizer from Woody Biomass Combustion Ash Using Simple Classification Methods – Academic – Semen Indonesia International University.

3rd Place

RISHY (Rice Husk-Based Hybrid Fertilizer): Nanosilica-Biochar Hydrogel Fertilizer from Rice Husk for Drought Stress Mitigation and Increased Rice (Oryza sativa) Productivity – Academic – Gadjah Mada University.

PROCESS & PLANT ENGINEERING CATEGORY

1st Place

Intelligent Edge Node: Implementation of Adaptive Digital Twin Based on Embedded AI for Supplementary Firing Optimization and Predictive Maintenance in HRSG – Academic – Gadjah Mada University.

2nd Place

Integration and Optimization of Microalgae Carbon Capture to Support Fertilizer Industry Decarbonization through High-Quality Carbon Credits and Green Ammonia Extraction – Startup – Aither.

3rd Place

AI-Driven AITOMA: AI-Based Predictive Maintenance System to Improve Critical Machinery Reliability in Fertilizer Plants – Startup – Aitoma.

AI-DRIVEN AGRI SUPPLY CHAIN CATEGORY

1st Place

Sonic-Chain: AI-Driven Yield Forecasting and Fertilizer Supply Chain Optimization via Ultrasonic Plant Bioacoustics – Academic – Jember State Polytechnic.

2nd Place

Pukpuk: Intelligent System Based on CatBoost and Geospatial Choropleth for Fertilizer Production Planning Optimization and Inventory Control – Academic – Brawijaya University.

3rd Place

SmartChain Fertilizer: Blockchain-AI Based Fertilizer Traceability & Automated Distribution Contract System to Reduce Stock Mismatch by up to 40% – Academic – Bandung Institute of Technology.