Bangladesh bringing new sensor technology to boost agriculture production with China’s help

Bangladesh is bringing in a new sensor technology to boost agriculture production in the country with China’s support.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed on Thursday in Dhaka for the ‘e-village’ project in a Gazipur village.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University will implement the project while iSoftStone, which is a joint venture of Chinese Huawei Technologies, will provide the technological support.

The ruling Awami League’s research wing the Center for Research and Information (CRI) will act as a strategic partner in the project. The three organisations will sign the MoU.

“This will usher in a new dawn in the modernisation of the agriculture sector,” Project Investigator Rashidul Hasan, an associate professor of the Agricultural University, toldbdnews24.com while explaining the project.

iSoftStone’s Chief Consultant Liu Nian who is in Dhaka for the signing ceremony toldbdnews24.com that with the technology “they’ll be able to tell the farmers what to do for crops management”.

“This is a pilot (project). If successful, we can do more such activities,” he said.

The Chinese embassy in Dhaka which is helping to bring the technology as part of Beijing’s ‘one belt one road’ initiative will also act as a strategic partner.

Under the project, 15 farmers in Gazipur’s Pajulia village will get crop management related info such as soil moisture, leaf wetness, diseases and pest identification and management using the sensor device.

“The information will first come to our university server and then we’ll analyse it and send to the farmers’ device in Bangla,” Project Investigator Hasan said.

“We’ll develop an android app and send both text and voice message. A farmer will get the real-time information in the morning and then will be able to take actions,” he said. 

“Actions based on real-time information can increase the production by 15 to 20 percent and lower the costs of production by 15 to 20 percent”.

“It’s a very costly device. But our target is to make it low-cost,” he said, adding that their target is to keep the price below $100.

They will also create databank using those devices and develop Apps using those data gathered from the device using local language.

“The key of the technology is to increase productivity,” the iSoftStone’s Chief Consultant Nian said.

“This is for the first time we are doing it in Bangladesh. But this is a mature technology. We have lot of successful projects in the world,” he said.

“Our system is based on the requirement of a specific country,” he said, adding that they were helping the countries under the China government’s “one belt-one road” initiative which is the centerpiece of China’s economic diplomacy.

The current Bangladesh government gives high importance on the growth and expansion of the agriculture sector. Many policies have been introduced to help farmers grow and 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, in a statement, said they would closely monitor and evaluate the whole project.

They will also visit the project area and take policy decision to scale up the projects, among other activities.

The Chinese embassy as a strategic partner will also monitor the project’s progression and provide technical support.