With the active participation of  around 60 national stakeholders and 26 International experts from 9 countries, (as well as 5 FAO experts in the fields of statistics and remote sensing), FAO Bangladesh organized a two day international seminar on ‘approaches and Methodologies for crop Monitoring and Production Forecasting’ on 25-26 May 2016.  The purpose was to share global experiences and ideas on tools of crop monitoring and production forecasting, and to set the appropriate methodology of crop monitoring and production forecasting in Bangladesh, particularly for the rice and potato crops.

The technical sessions showcased 27 presentations (links provided below) from both national and international participants, concluding in an open discussion session.

“Scientific and modern involvement  can play a pivotal role in local farming - with a particular emphasis on food security, GDP and overall development. It is difficult to achieve economic growth without proper agricultural marketing, backed by most updated statistics and information. I hope this event will be able to set a proper path to formulate proper guidelines and inform our policy making” said Mr K M Mozammel Hoq, Secretary, Statistics and Informatics Division, Ministry of Planning, and the Chief Guest of the inaugural session.

Mr Mohammed Abdul Wazed, Director General, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics remarked that the event, by bringing participants from three continents, had taken an important step in setting the right tone to establish one recognised methodology for future forecasting of crops in Bangladesh. He said that a blend of national experience with international expertise – as seen in this event - would help improve the quality of monitoring and forecasting from which the country will “heavily benefit”.

In discussing, Mr Mike Robson, FAO Representative in Bangladesh  highlighted the range of national stakeholders present, and that it would fall to them to find ever more effective ways to collaborate in taking the agenda – on improved crop monitoring and forecasting – forward.

Mr Mohammad Nazmul Islam, Additional Secretary, Agriculture Ministry, Mr Md Baitul Amin Bhuiyan, DDG, BBS, Mr Mukesh Kumer Srivastava, Statistician, FAO Regional Office,  Mr Bidhan Baral, Project Director, FAO-AMIS, Salima Sultana, Director, Agriculture wing, BBS were also present among other high level government and development stakeholders.

This event was financed and organized by the project “Strengthening Agriculture Market Information Systems in Bangladesh (AMIS)”, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).