Three students from Universitas Indonesia (UI) won two championships in two competitions, namely 1st place in the Economic Development Summit 3.0 competition and 2nd place in The 7th IPB Business Festival. This championship was achieved thanks to an innovative solution with the adoption of technology in the livestock industry. They created a product called Bettercows, which is cattle feed containing seaweed and 3-Nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP).
The team consists of two students from the Creative Business Study Program, Vocational Education Program, namely Patricia Revi De Mila and Sutan Excel; and a student from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Fharied Agiel Musriana. Patricia said that the feed will increase protein production sustainably, reduce methane gas emissions from cattle digestion, and maintain food and environmental security.
She further said that the use of the name Bettercows is expected to make cattle in Indonesia healthier and of better quality compared to other countries. Through the use of Bettercows feed, cattle also gain weight faster and produce more milk.
In addition to cattle feed products, Bettercows is also planned to be available in the form of an application that helps farmers manage feed needs, livestock sales, and monitor livestock feeding. Research on the business idea was also carried out based on various related scientific journals and discussions with fellow students from the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).
“Through this feed product and application, we hope to make it easier for farmers to provide healthy food to their livestock. In addition, we also want this product to be realized so that efforts to protect the environment are also carried out indirectly,” added Patricia.
The cattle feed business idea succeeded in bringing the three of them to win 1st place in the Economic Development Summit 3.0 competition held from October to November 2024 and 2nd place at the 7th IPB Business Festival held from August to October 2024. Patricia said, “We are very happy and proud of the results received. Thanks to cross-faculty collaboration, we have succeeded in creating a product idea that is in accordance with the needs of today’s society. In addition, classroom learning has greatly helped us in developing this business idea.”
Meanwhile, the director of the UI Vocational Education Program, Padang Wicaksono, S.E., Ph.D, said that the achievement achieved by Patricia and her team is one form of implementation of UI curriculum and learning that prioritizes outcome-based education. “The collaboration of business ideas brought by Patricia and her team to the competition stage has succeeded in getting sweet recognition. I hope this business idea can be implemented and have an impact on society and the environment,” said Padang.
