The Banoo UGM team has triumphantly won the annual competition of the 2020 Thought For Food Challenge. After successfully eliminating 5,200 participants from 175 countries, the Banoo UGM team was announced as the winner.
Within the Banoo team itself, there were five UGM Students and alumni, namely Lakshita Aliva Zein (Fisheries 2016) and Fajar Sidik Abdullah Kelana (Mechanical Engineering 2012), Azellia Alma Shafira (Management 2016), Muhammad Adlan Hawari (Electronics and Instrumentation 2015), and Fakhrudin Hary Santoso (Fishery 2015). Their research successfully developed a microbubble generator (MBG) tool equipped with IoT-based sensors and solar panels to increase 40 percent of fish pond productivity.
Lakshita Aliva Zein stated that an organization that participated in entrepreneurial innovation for world food and agriculture on October 16, 2020, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, initiated this event, namely the Thought For Food competition. Accordingly, they managed to break the record with the highest number of participants than in previous years.
"There are 5,200 registrants from 175 countries all over the world. Only 10 teams are going to be selected from 5,200 applicants. Next, the finalists will be invited to pitch about solution ideas from each startup," said Aliva at the UGM campus on Wednesday (2/12).
Banoo, a name fisheries technology startup designed by UGM alumni and students, was included within the 10 finalists selected. Next, this team was then allowed to pitch the solutions proposed for world food innovation in front of several judges.
"Banoo invented a microbubble generator (MBG) technology innovation to improve the quality of pool water with the equipment of the Internet-of-Things (IoT). This equipment is a sensor that aims to activate the microbubble generator automatically," she explained.
Aliva revealed this MBG technology could increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water to improve fish growth quality. There will be a faster harvest period, and eventually, it can increase the income of fish farmers. This solution has brought the Banoo team to win the first position in the Thought For Food Global Challenge 2020 competition and won the main prize in the form of a TFF Grand Prize of USD 10,000.
"The Banoo team accomplished beating nine other finalists who competed on the final night of the virtual 2020 Thought For Food Global Challenge. Based on the judges' assessment, they revealed that Banoo's innovation in the fisheries sector is in accordance with the appropriate use," said Aliva.
Besides, Banoo's innovation can be used by small-scale fish farmers. The simplicity of the Banoo team's solution, particularly in actualizing the quality of water in fish farming ponds, possibly develop food security, the environment, and the economy.
In addition, Aliva said that besides winning the TFF Global Challenge competition, in 2020, the Banoo team also became finalists in prestigious global competitions such as the MIT Sustainable Food Systems Challenge 2020 and the Young Social Entrepreneurs 2020 held by the Singapore International Foundation. The Banoo team also had the chance to attend the Kick Andy talk show with the theme "Indonesian Youth Shaking the World" last October.
"Banoo Team plans to conduct mass production of MBG equipment in the hope of fish cultivators in Indonesia and abroad can get the benefits directly," she explained.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Translator: Natasa A