BATAMCLICK.COM – Attending the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2025 came with expectations of bustling exhibitions showcasing sustainable technology from various countries.
“Will there be any representation from Indonesia?” This question lingered throughout the journey from Indonesia to the United Arab Emirates, growing into an unyielding curiosity.
Upon arriving at the ADSW 2025 venue, the exhibition map, centrally located in the corridor, became the first destination. The hope was singular: to find “Indonesia” among the list of companies dominated by entries from the UAE, China, India, and other countries.
After scanning through hundreds of exhibitors, “Indonesia” finally appeared under the clean technology innovation category—a category largely filled by Indian companies.
This was none other than Crustea, an Indonesian company invited to showcase its product at ADSW 2025. Crustea brought its innovation in sustainable aquaculture technology.
A Passion for Seafood
“We all love seafood, so we decided to build a shrimp farm,” said Crustea’s Founder and CEO, Roikhanatun Nafi’ah, recounting the company’s beginnings.
Nafi, as she is affectionately called, started shrimp farming with her partner in 2019. However, the journey was far from smooth. During harvest seasons, she faced failures that reminded her of the struggles shared by shrimp farmers she had encountered since 2016 as a student at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS).
The losses were not just from failed shrimp seeds but also from the high costs of diesel fuel, operational expenses, and other challenges. These recurring issues over three years prompted Nafi to examine the problem deeper.
Although the shrimp were free from disease, Nafi realized the success of shrimp farming also depended heavily on water quality. Armed with a technological background, Nafi and her partner focused on solving this issue through innovation.
In 2020, the idea to establish a sustainable aquaculture technology company emerged and was executed in 2022. Improving water quality to ensure successful shrimp harvests became their primary motivation.
Innovations for Food Security
Nafi’s innovations aimed to enhance farmers’ productivity while reducing operational costs, particularly electricity expenses.
Two key innovations emerged: water quality management to improve shrimp farming productivity and energy efficiency to lower electricity costs.
The first innovation, eco-aerator, is an oxygenation system for shrimp that provides higher oxygen levels than the paddle-wheel technology still widely used in Indonesia.
The second innovation, EBII System, monitors and controls water quality. If the system detects poor water quality, the eco-aerator automatically activates.
EBII System also supports energy efficiency, as farmers no longer need to operate aeration devices 24 hours a day. This contrasts with traditional paddle-wheel systems requiring continuous operation.
Additionally, Nafi integrated the eco-aerator and EBII System with solar panels, enabling farmers to use electricity only at night. For farmers without electricity access but with high aquaculture potential, solar panels provide an essential power source.
These innovations have significantly impacted shrimp farmers. According to Nafi, shrimp quality has doubled, and operational electricity costs have decreased by 80%.
For instance, farmers who previously spent IDR 8 million per month on diesel now spend just IDR 2 million.
Currently, about 500 farmers from East Java, Central Java, and Lampung are part of Crustea’s ecosystem. Over the next two years, Nafi aims to expand this number to 1,000 or even 2,000 farmers and extend operations to at least 10 new regions.
Creating Environmental Impact
Crustea is also running a women’s empowerment program in aquaculture, providing job opportunities for the wives of farmers through value-added processing of farmed products.
Nafi hopes her innovations will significantly reduce carbon emissions. Solar panels installed in shrimp and fish farms aim to replace diesel-powered operations, cutting emissions.
These innovations stem from Nafi and her team’s real-world experiences, listening to farmers’ grievances and enduring harvest failures themselves.
Sensitivity to the problems around them, combined with a desire to solve them, was the seed for these much-needed innovations.
While anyone can think of solutions, not everyone has the drive to turn ideas into reality. Nafi and her team have leveraged their backgrounds to innovate and create meaningful changes in their community.
From a love of seafood, her journey has led to a profound contribution to Indonesia’s food security.
May other young people find their own beginnings and meaningful ends to their journeys.
Sumber: Antara