Din Mohammed Dinu:A two-day International symposium on the theme “Agricultural Transformation: Role of Appropriate Scale Mechanization and Postharvest Loss Reduction Innovations” held on Thursday (10 November 2022) at the conference hall of Lakeshore Hotel, Gulshan-2 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It was organised by Appropriate Scale Mechanization Innovation Hub (ASMIH)-Bangladesh and Post-harvest Loss Reduction Innovation Lab (PHLIL)-Bangladesh and The Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.
The inauguration of the symposium The Honorable Minister, Ministry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, was chief guest in the event while The Curator, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum and Former Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam Khan, Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification (SIIL), Kansas State University, USA , Dr. P. V. Vara Prasad, Director, Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Dr. Prasanta K. Kalita, Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss (PHLIL), Kansas State University, USA, Dr. Jagger Harvey were present as Special Guests and Bangladesh Agricultural University vice-chancellor Lutful Hassan was present as chief patron of the programme, according to a press release.
Chairman, Engagement Advisory Committee, PHLIL-Bangladesh Dr. B. K. Bala, presided over the inaugural session and Professor Dr. Md. Monjurul Alam, Project Director, ASMIH-Bangladesh & Principal Investigator, PHLIL-Bangladesh, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh presented Welcome Speech and Keynote on ´Agricultural Transformation of Bangladesh: Role of Appropriate Scale Mechanization and Postharvest Loss Reduction Innovations’. Dr. Chayan Kumer Saha, Associate Director, ASMIH-Bangladesh and Professor, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh was also present the symposium.
More than three hundred people including teachers, researchers and officers of Ministry of Agriculture, Bangladesh with affiliated institutions, students, farmers, businessmen, representatives of various international donors and development partners participated in the symposium.
This two-day international symposium will have seven sessions where national and international stakeholders will present and share their activities related to mechanized agriculture and post harvest handling of crops in different technical sessions and panel discussions. There will be poster sessions from the students, youth and women entrepreneurs, and idea competition winners.
In the closing session, the keynote speech on “Agricultural Transformation of Bangladesh: Way Forward in Appropriate Scale Mechanization and Post harvest Loss Reduction Innovations” was presented by Prof. Dr. Md Monjurul Alam of Farm Power and Machinery Department of BAU, Project Director and Principal Investigator of ASMIH-Bangladesh and PHLIL-Bangladesh Phase-2 Projects.
Prof. Dr. Md Monjurul Alam said that agriculture in Bangladesh is being transformed from subsistence to semi-commercial agriculture where mechanization of agriculture is one of the drivers of this change. There is a need for greater mechanization of time, cost and labor saving and reduction of post harvest losses in agriculture through right-scale machines in public-private initiatives that will add value to agricultural produce. Investment in research and development and establishment of agricultural innovation hubs should be encouraged. National policies, strategies and frameworks are required to deploy emerging 4G technologies.
ASMIH-Bangladesh and PHLIL-Bangladesh Phase-2 Project Associate Director Prof. Dr. Chayan Kumer Saha said, our main objective is to achieve sustainable food security by increasing food production and reducing post-harvest losses. This is why we have organized a 2-day long symposium. Through this symposium we want to create a platform for all those who are working on mechanization in crop production and processing.
In the presidency of Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Professor Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, there were present the director of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post harvest Loss Program of Kansas State University in America Dr. Jagger Harvey, director of the Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) at the University of Illinois Dr. Prasanta K. Kalita, MD and CEO of Dutch Bangla Bank Abul Kashem, Chairman of Social Development Foundation Md. Abdus Samad and former Director General of Rural Development Academy MA Matin. Hundreds of people including teachers and officials of various universities of the country, researchers of various research institutions, employees of the Ministry of Agriculture and related institutions, students, farmers, businessmen also participated. Besides, teachers, officials and representatives of various international donor organizations, research institutes and universities participated.