Big Data Innovation by Universitas Gadjah Mada: More Efficient and Sustainable Precision Fertilization for Oil Palm
Yogyakarta – Andri Prima Nugroho, STP., M.Sc., Ph.D., IPU, ASEAN Eng., APEC Eng., from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has successfully developed a Big Data-based Decision Support System (DSS) for precision fertilization management in oil palm plantations. Completed in 2023, this research aims to provide more accurate, efficient, and sustainable fertilization recommendations by integrating soil, climate, and crop data to enhance productivity and optimize operational costs.
This innovative system is designed to address challenges in traditional fertilization management, which is often less accurate and inefficient. By leveraging Big Data analytics, the DSS can process and integrate critical information such as soil conditions, climate patterns, and crop growth data in real time. The result is highly specific fertilization recommendations tailored to the actual needs of each plantation area.
According to Andri Prima Nugroho, the development of this system marks a significant step toward realizing precision agriculture in the oil palm sector. “We hope this system can help farmers and plantation managers make smarter fertilization decisions, reduce fertilizer waste, and ultimately increase profitability while maintaining environmental sustainability,” he stated.
This internally funded research is also conducted in collaboration with both national and international partners, reflecting Universitas Gadjah Mada’s commitment to delivering technology-driven solutions relevant to industry needs. The output of this research is a model and algorithm ready for implementation to support more modern fertilization practices.
With the completion of this research, the Big Data-based DSS technology is expected to be widely adopted, bringing positive impacts to Indonesia’s oil palm industry by improving operational efficiency and productivity in the era of Agriculture 4.0.
