Nepali agriculture students learn ICT for sustainable farming

STACEY CASSAR 

DreamWork Solution is a Nepali-founded and operated ICT consultancy service working with CIMMYT’s SRFSI project in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The company is working to scale Conservation Agriculture based Sustainable Intensification (CASI) technologies using ICT tools and strategies.

DreamWork Solution’s ‘Digo Krishi’ project has recently recruited and trained 20 students from the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Chitwan (Nepal) to assist with its mission. The AFU team engaged with DreamWork Solution in late November to learn about SRFSI project findings and methodologies, and to empower the students to compile, update and manage CASI data using ICT.

The students have been assigned various tasks including content compilation for mobile applications, and web development for an online CASI knowledge hub. The Digo Krishi mobile app will connect farmers with contextually-relevant information about CASI using descriptions, photos, prices, guidelines and machinery user manuals.

The Digo Krishi project will later involve database software development and the establishment of a ‘data centre’. The data centre will be linked through the online hub and will enable farmers to access advice and information about CASI, agricultural machinery, improved seed, herbicides and fertilizer. Database software will be highly practical for farmers in the EGP, linking them with local sales, service, maintenance and machinery providers.

“Empowering agriculture students will lead to effective dissemination of agriculture technology,” said Digo Krishi project leader Kiran Bamanu.

The SRFSI team looks forward to working with the agriculture students as they pursue their shared goal of reducing poverty in the EGP by making smallholder agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable while safeguarding the environment and involving women.

Thanks to Soniya Bashyal (Agricultural and Forestry University) for her assistance with this story.

For more information, please contact Dr TP Tiwari (t.tiwari@cgiar.org).