Bangladesh to introduce drone technology to assess crop losses

Bangladesh is preparing to introduce remote sensing and drones to detect crop damage caused by extreme weather events or diseases, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Around 20 officers of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) are initially receiving training to learn how to use state-of-the-art technologies.

Malay Choudhury, additional secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, and Edimon Ginting, ADB country director for Bangladesh, inaugurated a workshop titled “The Use of Drone and Satellite Image for Crop Monitoring and Crop Damage Assessment” in Dhaka on Tuesday to initiate a seven-day training programme, according to a press release.

DAE and ADB jointly designed the training programme that will continue till April 25 April, according to ADB.

Renowned geospatial experts from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will conduct the training.

The trainees will receive four days of classroom training on geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing analysis for crop damage detection and participate in a three-day field trip to Sylhet to learn how to collect ground data using mobile devices.

Local DAE officials are expected to participate in the training in Sylhet, where the 2022 floods caused major crop damage.

Proper assessment of crop diseases and losses are critical to take appropriate measures to ensure agricultural productivity and food security in the context of growing threats of climate change in Bangladesh, said Edimon Ginting.

“ADB will continue to bring in innovative solutions including advanced technologies to help Bangladesh tackle climate impacts,” Ginting added.

With advanced geospatial technology, our officers will be able to assess crop damage and provide effective government programmes to mitigate the expected damage caused by climate change in the future, said Badal Chandra Biswas, director general, DAE.

Following the training programme, ADB and DAE plan to produce joint reports on crop damage assessment in the Sylhet region, conduct a project evaluation study of an ADB-supported integrated water management project in Gopalganj areas, and implement a nationwide climate disaster assessment in a small local government unit.

Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific financed by the Government of Japan provided the grant fund for the training programme through the Asian Development Bank.