24 Innovations and Startups
Shrimp farming made easy A new startup in Indonesia brings modernisation and computerisation to shrimp farming
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ndonesia has an active startup ecosystem which today, matches well with the needs of its expanding shrimp farming industry, eager to modernise. A changeover is also happening with farms being managed by a new generation of entrepreneurs or being passed on to the next generation. The opportunity is there for an aquaculture startup like Sgara which aims to help shrimp farmers increase farm efficiency through data analytics. At the recent “Bandung Startup Pitching Day 2020”, held to facilitate access to funding as well give exposure to new startups, Sgara was voted as the most marketable. Sgara was started in October 2018 by three founders; Arrival Dwi Sentosa, Christopher Jason Sjarif and Rizky Darmawan. It is focused specifically on shrimp farming; helping shrimp farmers increase farm efficiency through data. It has Sgarabook, a mobile and web-based AIpowered shrimp farm management system. The aim is to help farmers prevent diseases by generating optimal plans for the farm's future cycles based on the farm's previous data. As a farming cycle progresses, the system is able to recommend tailored feeding programs and water treatments to ensure an optimal result. The system alerts farmers on unusual water quality parameters and disease predictions in advance to help farmers avoid diseases. This is the story of Sgara as told by the three founders via email.
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..We asked ourselves, what if we can streamline data reporting, access all our data easily, and present it as such that we can analyse it day by day, anywhere we want, anytime. - Christopher Jason Sjarif
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September/October 2020 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific
The pull factor
It helped that all three founders are second generation shrimp farmers taking over from their parents and relatives, but keen to modernise the whole industry. Rizky runs a 60pond intensive shrimp farm on Sumbawa Island; Christopher has a 8-pond intensive farm also located in Sumbawa, and Arrival Dwi had experience in his uncle’s traditional shrimp farm located in West Java. In terms of training, none of them were specifically trained as aquaculturists. Christoper and Arrival Dwi were college mates at the Beijing Institute of Technology, both majoring in computer science. Rizky studied aquatic and fisheries sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle and joined the family farming business in 2014. Rizky also founded the PMI (Petambak Muda Indonesia), a young shrimp farmers association and is currently its chairman. Arrival Dwi is currently enrolled in Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) graduate school majoring in AI development. Marrying these backgrounds with their hands-on training in farm operations gave them the heads-up in pushing for “factory style farming” with data at hand.
