The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has expressed interest in working with Bangladesh to modernise the agriculture sector using technology.
FAO Representative in Bangladesh Robert D. Simpson said this during a meeting with State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak in the city’s Agargaon on Sunday.
Besides, Simpson said they want to work jointly on various issues, including agro-machineries and Agricultural Technology Blended Learning, to introduce smart agriculture in Bangladesh.
In the meeting, the ICT Department, the Agriculture Ministry and the FAO agreed to create a 2-5 year road map by jointly organising a workshop.
During this time, they also discussed the necessity to increase agricultural production using modern technology, market range, research in agriculture, research in agriculture market, local innovation and rural economy using robotics and IoT (Internet of things).
Palak said smart agriculture and the rising food demand is not possible to meet without the use of modern technology.
A pilot project called ‘Smart Village’ has already been adopted through the Establishing Digital Connectivity (EDC) project under the ICT department. The ekShop and ekPay apps have created the opportunity to sell agricultural products by creating bridges between farmers, buyers and sellers, he added.
He emphasized on working jointly with academia, ICT department and FAO to produce food using modern agro-machineries.
