In the context of the growing threat of climate change in Bangladesh, proper assessment of crop diseases and damage is essential to ensure agricultural productivity and food security, said ADB Country Director in Bangladesh Edimon Ginting.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bangladesh is preparing to bring in remote sensing and drones to identify crop damage caused by adverse weather events or diseases.

About 20 officers of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) are being given initial training to learn the use of the latest technology.

Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Malay Chowdhury and ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Edimon Ginting inaugurated a 7-day training workshop titled 'Use of Drones and Satellite Imagery for Crop Monitoring and Crop Damage Assessment' in Dhaka on Tuesday (April 16).

The training program is jointly organized by the Directorate of Agricultural Extension and ADB. This training program will continue till April 25.

The training will be conducted by renowned geospatial experts from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The trainees will receive a four-day training on Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing analysis for crop damage detection. He will then participate in a three-day field program in Sylhet to learn ground data collection methods using mobile devices.

In the context of increasing threat of climate change in Bangladesh, proper assessment of crop diseases and damage is essential to take appropriate measures to ensure agricultural productivity and food security, said Country Director Edimon Ginting.

Ginting said, 'ADB will continue to bring innovative solutions with advanced technology to help Bangladesh deal with climate impacts.'

Badal Chandra Biswas, director general of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said that in the future, through advanced geospatial technology, our officials will be able to assess crop damage and take effective government programs to mitigate potential damage due to climate change.

At the end of the training program, ADB and the Department of Agricultural Extension will prepare a joint report on crop damage assessment in the Sylhet region. In addition, an evaluation survey of integrated water management project will be conducted with the help of ADB in Gopalganj area. Besides, the local government department will implement the climate disaster assessment plan on a small scale nationwide.

The training program is funded by the Asian Development Bank Japan Fund, funded by the Japanese government to build a prosperous and resilient Asia and the Pacific region.