‘e-village’ project to boost agriculture production in Bangladesh launched

An ‘e-village’ project has been launched in Bangladesh to boost agriculture production using technology.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Jan 2017, 11:07 AM
Updated : 19 Jan 2017, 11:47 AM

The nine-month pilot project at Pajulia village in Joydevpur under Gazipur district will use sensor device to update farmers with crop management related information such as soil moisture, leaf wetness, diseases and pest identification.

China is helping the ruling Awami League’s research wing, the Center for Research and Information (CRI) , to bring the technology in Bangladesh under Beijing’s “one belt one road” initiative which is the centerpiece of President Xi Jinping’s economic diplomacy.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University is implementing the project while iSoftStone, a joint venture of Chinese Huawei Technologies, is providing technological support. A MoU was signed in this regard on Thursday among the three organisations.

“It’ll (sensor device} give early signal to farmers about the pest infections and soil condition so that they can take immediate action,” Project Investigator Rashidul Hasan, an associate professor of the Agricultural University, said at the MoU signing.

“The device will send data to the server installed at the Agriculture University which will analyse it and send back to the farmers’ mobile in local language both in text and audio format using an app.”

He said actions based on this real-time information can reduce input costs by 15 to 2O percent and increase output by 15 to 2O percent in agriculture production.

“So ultimately farmers will get 3O to 4O percent benefit by using the technology,” he said.  “If successful, we’ll scale it up”.

Under the project, they will also create data bank using those devices.

The Bangladesh government gives high importance to the growth and expansion of the agriculture sector. Many policies have been introduced to help farmers uplift their lives. Use of ICT in the agriculture sector is also a focus area.

The CRI which is a strategic partner of the project said they would closely monitor and evaluate the whole project.

“This is the first initial step in digitising the agriculture sector,” CRI Executive Director Sabbir Bin Shams said, adding that they were inspired by the China’s use of technology in agriculture in which 38 percent information is digitised.

The Chinese embassy in Dhaka will also supervise and monitor the project, he said.

China is investing in large infrastructure projects in foreign countries since the beginning of the belt and road initiative in 2013.

Bangladesh formally joined the initiative during the visit of President Xi in October, believing it will bring “important opportunities” to become a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041.

iSoftStone, which is providing technical support to this Bangladesh project, is a global leader in digital city technologies based in Beijing. It has developed smart city strategies for over 100 municipalities and has implemented more than 50 related digital solutions.

The organisation provides comprehensive end-to-end solutions to governments, industries and enterprises with urban management, industrial application, services for livelihood improvement and city innovation.

Executive Vice President of iSoftStone Walter Fang said the project would increase “efficiency” in agriculture production.

“We support our President Xi’s one belt one road initiative and we are here to help Bangladesh prosper and grow. We want to expand collaboration in other areas also”.

Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese embassy Yang Shi Chao lauded the role CRI plays in bringing technologies in Bangladesh and projecting the country’s development to the world, and said the project was the culmination of a year-long process.

He highlighted China’s assistance to Bangladesh and in those assistances “we never impose any political conditions”.

“We never interfere in internal affairs of the recipient country and we fully respect the rights to independently choose your own paths, your own models,” he said. “This (China’s} assistance is the assistance to friends and brothers”.

State Minister for Energy and Power Nasrul Hamid who is also a trustee of the CRI, also witnessed the signing.