Din Mohammed Dinu:The Appropriate Scale Mechanization Innovation Hub (ASMIH)-Bangladesh Virtual Annual Symposium-2021, jointly organised by The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification (SIIL) based in the Kansas State University, USA; Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) based in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), was held virtually on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 evening and The theme of the symposium was “Appropriate Scale Mechanization for Sustainable Intensification in Agricultural Production Systems”.
The Chair, Science Committee of Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) and the professor of University of Illinois Professor Gajendra Singh, was the chief guest in the event and The Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University Prof Dr Lutful Hassan was present as the chief patron of the program.
The Director of the Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) and the professor of University of Illinois Dr Prasanta K Kalita, ASMIH-Bangladesh Project Director and Professor of the Department of Farm Power and Machinery Dr. Md. Monjurul Alam and Dr. Dyna Theng, Coordinator, Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC),The Royal University of Agriculture, Combodia gave presentation on the theme “Appropriate Scale Mechanization for Sustainable Intensification in Agricultural production Systems’’ with the country specific activities. Professor Dr. P. V. Vara Prasad, Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification (SIIL) of Kansas State University USA was present as the inaugural session chair.
The second session of the event presents the ideas of Smart Agriculture for Green Planet, the top three winning teams of the previously held SAIYN Idea Competition-2021 for students and each winning team received a check worth 500 dollar and crest virtually. The Certificates were also awarded to the first ten teams of the competition.
A panel discussion session on the workshop theme “Transforming semi-mechanized to smart agriculture for achieving sustainable food systems in the region” was taken place involving distinguished panelists Dr. Wais Kabir, Former Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh; Dr. Timothy J. Krupnik, Project Leader, Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA), CIMMYT, Bangladesh; Mr. Subrata Ranjan Das, Executive Director, ACI Motors Ltd, Bangladesh and Professor Dr. Md. Monjurul Alam, Project Director, ASMIH-Bangladesh, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh; Associate Director, ASMIH-Bangladesh and professor of the Department of Farm Power and Machinery Dr. Chayan Kumer Saha coordinated the virtual symposium. All the speakers mentioned that adaptation of global learning to local condition, skilled manpower and capacity building of local workshops and manufacturers is necessary for transforming of agriculture from semi-mechanized to smart agriculture.
More than two hundred people including teachers of different universities, researchers of different research institutes, researchers / staff of Ministry of Agriculture and affiliated institutes, students, farmers, businessmen, representatives of various international donors and development partners, participated in the workshop.