Unismuh Makassar's Agribusiness Goes International, AI UrVe Innovation Wins Bronze Award ICIC 2026

MAKASSAR — Students at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar are once again achieving international recognition. A team of students from the Agribusiness Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Unismuh Makassar, has won a Bronze Award at the International Communication Innovation Competition (ICIC) 2026, organized by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).

The award was achieved through an innovative idea entitled “UrVe: AI-Based Communication Technology to Strengthen Urban Food Security through Information Verification.”

This achievement is significant for students in Agribusiness at Unismuh Makassar. Not only because they have successfully competed at the international level, but also because the idea addresses a pressing issue for urban communities: ensuring that information about urban farming available online is trustworthy and used effectively.

The team, led by Muhammad Naufal, along with Anggi Jafar, Fahirawati, Asmawi, and Muhammad Yahya, all students from the Agribusiness and Forestry programs (2024 intake), successfully represented Unismuh Makassar in the competition.

From Urban Farming, an Artificial Intelligence-Based Idea Emerges

The growth of urban farming in recent years has created new opportunities for urban residents to produce their own food. Limited land is no longer a barrier. Various farming methods can be learned through social media and digital platforms.

However, the ease of accessing information also presents new challenges.

Various information about cultivation techniques, planting media, fertilization, and pest control is rapidly circulating online. The challenge is that not all of this information is equally reliable.

In response to this situation, students at Unismuh Makassar have developed UrVe, an idea that combines agribusiness, digital communication, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to verify information about urban farming.

This idea also demonstrates the evolution of agribusiness. Agribusiness is no longer just about production, distribution, marketing, and agricultural management, but also involves data, digital technology, communication, and artificial intelligence.

This challenges students to not only be users of technology, but also to create ideas that can answer the challenges of the changing times.

Muhammad Naufal: This Award is Not the End

For Muhammad Naufal, the Bronze Award at ICIC 2026 is an academic experience that provides many lessons.

He expressed his gratitude for the achievement with his team and hopes that the UrVe idea can continue to be developed after the competition.

“We are very grateful to have won the Bronze Award at ICIC 2026. This achievement is a very valuable experience for us as Agribusiness students. We hope that the UrVe innovation will not stop at the competition, but can continue to be developed to provide even greater benefits, especially in helping people obtain more trusted agricultural information in urban areas,” said Naufal.

According to him, participating in an international competition provides a different experience compared to learning in the classroom.

Students are required to process ideas, build communication between teams, sharpen creativity, create solutions, and be able to present their ideas to a wider academic environment.

“We hope that in the future there will be more students who are brave enough to develop ideas and participate in competitions at the national and international levels. This achievement is not just about awards, but also about how the knowledge we learn can be developed into innovations that have benefits for society,” he said.

Head of Agribusiness Program: Evidence That Students Can Read the Times

The Head of the Agribusiness Program at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, Muh. Ikmal Saleh, S.P., M.Si., expressed his appreciation for Muhammad Naufal and his team's achievement.

According to him, international competitions are an important space for students to test and develop their skills acquired during their studies.

“We appreciate Muhammad Naufal and his team for winning the Bronze Award at ICIC 2026. This achievement shows that students in Agribusiness have the ability to integrate agribusiness knowledge with technological developments and community needs,” said Muh. Ikmal Saleh.

He believes that the current agribusiness sector requires graduates who can see changes more broadly. Understanding of economics and agricultural management must go hand in hand with the ability to use digital technology, data, communication, innovation, and artificial intelligence.

“The Faculty and Agribusiness Program continuously encourages students to develop innovative and problem-solving thinking. Agribusiness must be able to respond to changes in times, including digital transformation and the development of artificial intelligence. Therefore, innovations like UrVe are an example of how students can connect scientific knowledge with real-world problems in society,” he added.

Muh. Ikmal Saleh also hopes that this achievement can be a catalyst for other students to be more active in participating in competitions, conducting research, and producing innovations that have social and economic benefits.

Agribusiness Meets AI and Food Security

The UrVe idea is interesting because it brings together three relevant issues in modern food development: urban farming, digital transformation, and food security.

Urban farming can be one approach to supporting food availability in urban areas. At the same time, digital technology opens up opportunities for people to learn farming techniques more quickly.

In this context, the quality of information is important.

UrVe brings the idea that AI can be used to help people verify information about urban farming obtained through online spaces.

This concept also relates to various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

Therefore, the students' innovation is not only about technology, but also about responding to food, sustainability, and urban community issues.

Bronze Award and the Long Journey of an Innovative Culture

The Bronze Award at ICIC 2026 is part of the journey of students in Unismuh Makassar's Agribusiness Program to gain academic experience outside the classroom.

The international competition provides students with the opportunity to test and develop their skills in the real world. From there, ideas are tested not only based on concepts, but also through the ability of students to communicate solutions and work collaboratively.

More than just an award, the UrVe team's achievement shows that the space for agribusiness innovation is vast.

Farming can meet technology. Technology can meet communication. And both can be directed to answer problems in society.

For the Agribusiness Program at Unismuh Makassar, this achievement is part of the effort to build an academic environment that encourages students to dare to think, dare to create, and dare to bring their ideas to a wider stage.

Because the future of agribusiness is not only determined by how much food can be produced, but also by how innovative people can manage knowledge, technology, information, and resources to build a more adaptive and sustainable food system.

From the Unismuh Makassar Classroom, an Idea Takes on the International Stage. And UrVe is a proof that students in agribusiness have a space to grow with the changing technology and the challenges of the future food.