IPB University Launching Nutriferads: Automatic Fertigation and Irrigation Tool
The Center for Tropical Horticulture Studies (PKHT) of IPB University through the Innovative Productive Research (Rispro) Invitation program of the Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) launched the Nutriferads tool at the IPB PKHT Experimental Garden, Bogor (20/3). This machine is used for integrated automatic fertigation and irrigation in vegetable cultivation.
Chairman of PKHT IPB University, Prof Awang Maharijaya said, this innovation was produced from a multidisciplinary science approach ranging from agronomy and horticulture, plant protection, computer science and agribusiness.
“The results of fertilizer recommendations can be applied to plant cultivation automatically using the Nutriferads machine so that water and fertilizer needs can be given precisely,” he said.
Director of LPDP Research Facilitation, Wisnu Sardjono Soenarso, MEng said that his party had provided funding to IPB University amounting to 280 billion through the LPDP endowment fund. This endowment fund is a fund whose investment returns are used to finance scholarships and research.
“Hopefully, this research can be applied not only to farmers with ties but also to farmers who have land under one hectare. We suggest IPB University also collaborate with other universities on downstream agricultural research,” he said.
He explained that Nutriferads technology is a system to increase the efficiency and modernization of horticultural agriculture so that the results of innovation can be directly accepted by the market.
“The main issues in agriculture today are the increasing value of man-day wages (HOK), the scarcity of clean water, and the availability of fertilizers whose prices are rising. From these three issues, an innovative irrigation and fertigation system was created so that the use of water and nutrients becomes more efficient,” he said.
Nutriferads researcher who is also an IPB University lecturer from the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Prof Anas D Susila, said that precision crop cultivation begins with precision soil health and fertility management activities. This tool, he said, can recommend fertilizers for 30 types of commercial vegetable crops.
Vice Rector of IPB University for Research, Innovation and Agromaritime Development, Prof Ernan Rustiadi said that the contribution of PKHT is very significant in the development of smart agriculture. The success of PKHT IPB University is proven by the birth of the Calina papaya variety which is now in demand up to 7 tons per week.
“Innovations such as the Nutriferads tool in horticulture are an important part of the IPB Agromaritime milestone roadmap that has been running for three years. This shows the importance of technology 4.0 to facilitate an increasingly urgent future,” he said. (dr/Rz) (IAAS/NYS)
