Petrokimia Gresik Develops Soil Recovery Solution to Boost Farmer Productivity

State-owned fertiliser producer PT Petrokimia Gresik has unveiled an innovation called GladiAgro: Next-Gen Soil Revival, designed to help restore soil health and support sustainable agriculture. The solution aims to improve fertiliser efficiency and boost agricultural productivity by enhancing soil quality. GladiAgro recently received the highest honour as the Outstanding Distinguished Innovator at the SDGs Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals 2026, organised by the Indonesia Global Compact Network. This achievement paves the way for GladiAgro to be introduced at the UN Global Compact forum in New York, United States, in September 2026. Daconi Khotob, President Director of Petrokimia Gresik, stated that GladiAgro was developed to address the challenge of declining agricultural soil quality, which can impact fertiliser effectiveness and crop productivity. ‘GladiAgro is part of Petrokimia Gresik’s effort to provide solutions for soil health issues. We want to help farmers improve their land conditions so that fertilisation becomes more effective, productivity increases, and agricultural sustainability is maintained,’ he said in Gresik. The innovation stems from the company’s concern over the deteriorating quality of agricultural land in Indonesia, a condition partly caused by unbalanced fertiliser use and the persistent practice of burning agricultural waste. Based on testing of 40,282 soil samples conducted by Petrokimia Gresik since 2016 across 27 provinces, 91.9 percent of the samples showed low organic carbon content. This condition can reduce soil quality and fertility, diminish fertiliser effectiveness, and make increasing agricultural productivity less than optimal. To address this issue, GladiAgro utilises a microbial-based biological product called Petro Gladiator to process agricultural waste into Liquid Organic Nutrient (NOC). This nutrient is then returned to the land to increase organic matter content, improve soil structure, and help restore fertility. ‘GladiAgro targets the root problem of agriculture, which is low soil fertility. Petro Gladiator acts as a decomposer to help increase organic matter content. When soil quality improves, nutrient absorption becomes more optimal, so agricultural productivity can increase and the land becomes more adaptive to climate change,’ Daconi explained.