Roundup: China extends hand to Bangladesh to augment agricultural production

Bangladesh has launched a China-aided project to augment agricultural production by using cutting edge technologies.

The "e-village" project was launched in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh's leading Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University in association with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League Party's research wing, the Center for Research and Information (CRI) and iSoftStone, a leading China-based IT services provider, will implement the nine-month pilot project at a village in Gazipur on the outskirts of capital Dhaka.

Officials say through the project, rural village farmers will be introduced with the sensor device system so that can be updated with real time crop management, related information such as soil moisture, leaf wetness, diseases and pest identification.

In this regard, an agreement was signed Thursday among the officials of the organizations in presence of Bangladeshi State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resource Nasrul Hamid and Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh Yang Shichao.

CRI Executive Director Sabbir Bin Shams said the "e-village" project is the first of its kind to digitize the country's agriculture sector through reaching technologies to rural farmers.

He said, "today's China is a big inspiration for us as it largely uses technology in agriculture."

Executive Vice President of iSoftStone Walter Fang said they provide comprehensive end-to-end solutions to governments, industries and enterprises with urban management, industrial application, services for livelihood improvement and city innovation.

He expressed the hope that the project will help Bangladesh efforts to augment food production through further digitizing agriculture sector.

Meanwhile, Yang lauded the Bangladeshi government's efforts in introducing more cutting edge technologies in more Bangladesh sectors including agriculture.

He said China will continue to support and cooperate with Bangladesh in future for its economic development.

Nasrul Hamid, also a CRI trustee, highly appreciated China's long-term support to Bangladesh's economic and social development.

He said China made ample contributions to Bangladesh's strives to achieve economic independence through developing all the key sectors including agriculture.

Officials said Bangladesh attaches growing importance to its agriculture sector as it still contributes about 16 percent to national GDP. Endit