WELCOME TO SOHEL SHAHIN'S BLOG

Tuesday, 27 May 2014

www.bsmrau.edu.bd          Blogger's Name :   Md. Sohel Rana  
                                 Reg. no: 11-05- 2598
                                 Group :   II 
                                  Level :    IV 




                              

Md Ashraful Alam 
Reg. no: 11-05-2582       
Group :   II       
 Level :    IV  
      




Course Code: CST 405
Course Title:  Information and Communication Technology


Course Instructor: Md.Roshidul Hasan, Associate Professor
                               Gonesh Chandra Saha, Assistant Professor &
                               Suraiya Yasmine, Lecturer
                               Dept.of Computer Science and Information Technology.
                               BSMRAU

Impact of ICT on Livestock

Many of the pastoral communities in of the world have faced a complex set of challenges due to political and economic marginalization, inappropriate government policies, inadequate access to domestic and cross border markets, frequent and recurring droughts and other climate and environmental shocks. All these factors have led to a chronic food insecurity and high vulnerability in the areas inhabited by these communities, thereby threatening the livelihoods of millions of people. In recent years,the majority of the governments and donor agencies operating in the region have shown a renewed interest in improving the livelihoods, living conditions and the economic wellbeing of the pastoral communities. The global revolution in information and telecommunication technologies has created an opportunity to remedy the situation and to assist livestock producers, development practitioners, researchers and policy makers to make informed decisions and identify appropriate choices and strategies to cope with and mitigate the effects engendered by constraints in the pastoral livestock sub-sector. Communication and access to information and knowledge are vital for the economic development, alleviation of hunger and the overall improvement of the livelihood of the pastoral communities in the asia

RFID

The Veterinary Department of Malaysia's Ministry of Agriculture introduced a livestock-tracking RFID technology for easier identification, providing access to relevant data such as: bearer's location, name of breeder, origin of livestock, sex, and dates of movement. This program is the first of its kind in Asia, and is expected to increase the competitiveness of Malaysian livestock industry in international markets by satisfying the regulatory requirements of importing countries like United States, Europe and Middle East. Tracking by RFID will also help producers meet the dietary standards by the halal market. The program will also provide improvements in controlling disease outbreaks in livestock program in 2009 to track the estimated 80,000 cattle all across the country..

Computer-controlled devices (automated systems)

Automatic milking systems are computer controlled stand alone systems that milk the dairy cattle agricultural robot, a complex herd management software, and specialized computers. Automatic milking eliminates the farmer from the actual milking process, allowing for more time for supervision of the farm and the herd. Farmers can also improve herd management by using the data gathered by the computer. By analyzing the effect of various animal feeds on milk yield, farmers may adjust accordingly to obtain optimal milk yields. Since the data is available down to individual level, each cow may be tracked and examined, and the farmer may be alerted when there are unusual changes that could mean sickness or injuries without human labor. 

Mobile Phone

Although mobile phone coverage is mostly limited to major cities, it is making rapid advances into pastoral areas in most of the countries in the Eastern Africa region. Therefore the use of cell phone SMS to report and deliver livestock price information to the potential beneficiaries in those areas is seen as a viable option. SMS is a means to send and to receive text messages (words, numbers or alphanumeric) to and from mobile phones or to and from computers via the Internet (E-mail) to mobile phones (http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/sms/intro.shtml). SMS is a part of the GSM technology that has become increasingly popular worldwide since it is much cheaper compared to voice messages. LINKS project trained market monitors in the use of SMS and provided them cell phones and scratch cards to implement the technology (Figure 2). A Cell phone SMS server was installed in Nairobi by LINKS to facilitate sending data directly from remote livestock market locations in Kenya (Isiolo, Garissa, Nairobi, Wajir, Marsabit and Moyale) and relaying back analysis and reports to those areas.

Initiatives in Fisheries Sector

Kisan Call Centre
Subject Matter Specialists (SMS) using telephone and computers, interact with farmers directly to understand the problems and answer the queries at the call centres. There are call centres for every state that are expected to handle traffic from any part of the country.

Aqua service centres
Many unemployed educated youths have started operating aqua service centres in the line of agri-clinics. These centres offer services like soil and water testing, feed analysis, seed quality testing (PCR test), disease diagnosis and market intelligence. They also sell inputs such as feed, fertilizers, pesticides, other therapeutics etc.
 Helpline
The helplines address queries related at specific hours. The helpline number is advertised through mass media viz., radio and press,call centre etc

Importance of ICT in Fisheries

The latest innovations of ICTs in fisheries sectors have brought about a tremendous change in the life styles of the fish farmers. Different initiatives in ICTs have been taken up which would also help in expanding and developing the fisheries technologies to the farmers.
  New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used across the fisheries sector, from resource assessment, capture or culture to processing and commercialisation. Some are specialist applications such as sonar for locating fish. Others are general purpose applications such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) used for navigation and location finding, mobile phones for trading, information exchange and emergencies, radio programming with fishing communities and web-based information and networking resources. (FAO, 2007) . 
  Different communication technologies have been used by the fishermen, entrepreneurs, aquaculturist, extension workers, etc. Of all these, radio has been found to be most widely used by farmers. Information on various innovations of fisheries technologies are being disseminated among the farmers. 
 Introduction of mobile phones in In bangladesh has brought about a tremendous change in fisheries sector. One result was a dramatic improvement in the efficiency and profitability of the fishing industry. As mobile phone service spread, it allowed fishermen to land their catches where there were wholesalers ready to purchase them.

Achieving Good Farm Practice through Improved Soil,Nutrient and Land Managment

http://www.ictinagriculture.org/sites/ictinagriculture.org/files/8285-BX0503_ka.jpg


Good farming practices maximize chances of a good harvest. In the past, conventional farming practices treated entire farms as homogeneous units even though they are often variable in productive potential. This view is changing as technology allows producers to measure soil nutrient status, crop potential, pasture health, and water-use efficiency at specific sites within a field. ICTs like digital soil maps provide extensive soil information that can be stored and accessed online. GPS, satellite imagery, remote sensors, and aerial images help to assess soil and land variations, and mobile applications and the Internet can disseminate the information quickly. 

 Assessing Soil Properties for Climate-Resilient Agriculture 

Accurate soil analyses and improved farming practices are needed urgently because productivity gains are highest in healthy soils and where pesticide, fertilizer, tools, and machinery are used properly. Instruments for mapping and analyzing soil properties have proliferated in the last decade, increasing farmers’ knowledge about the soils on their farms and the need for climate-resilient agricultural practices. The following section discusses these technologies and their associated challenges in broad terms. Subsections discuss innovative technologies specifically related to nitrogen and carbon, two essential chemical components for successful soil conservation and climate change mitigation. 
Digital soil maps are the most promising applications for visualizing soil properties and the gravity of soil nutrient depletion in a particular area.2 The International Working Group on Digital Soil Mapping (WG-DSM) defines digital soil mapping as “the creation and the population of a geographically referenced soil database generated at a given resolution by using field and laboratory observation methods coupled with environmental data through quantitative relationships” (Rossiter 2004). A variety of technologies, including satellite remote sensors and cameras, can be used to survey soil and collect data to create digital soil map      

Remote Sensing Technologies: Raw Data Collection

The first type of ICT that improves productivity includes tools that collect agricultural data:
  • Geographical information systems (GIS) collect geographic data through computer hardware and software to capture, store, update, and display all forms of geographically referenced information by matching coordinates and time to other variables. Data sets formed by GIS constitute “layers” of information (for example, on topography, population size, or agricultural household income) that can be merged and analyzed to establish relationships and produce maps or charts that visualize geographical traits (GIS.com n.d.).
  • Global positioning system (GPS) is a satellite-based positioning and navigation system with three basic components: satellites that orbit the earth, control and monitoring stations on the earth, and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS receivers pick up signals from the satellites, including precise orbital information (latitude, longitude, and ellipsoidal GPS altitude) of a given object or location, as well as the time. GPSs can function in any weather and are free for public use (GPS.gov n.d.; GARMIN n.d.).
  • Satellite imagery is an image of Earth taken from satellites in orbit. There are four types of satellite imagery: spatial (size of surface area); spectral (wavelength interval); temporal (amount of time); and radiometric (levels of brightness)—which capture a variety of variables about a given area of varying size. The resolution (in meters) of these images depends on the satellite system used and its distance from Earth; weather can interfere mainly with satellite systems utilizing visible wavelengths of light. The cost of the technology depends on the satellite system used, on whether new or archive imagery is purchased, and on possible georeferencing to a coordinate system.
  • Aerial photography and orthophoto mosaic. An aerial photo is an image (once a photograph, now a digital image) of the ground taken from an airplane, helicopter, or radio-controlled aircraft at a given altitude. Aerial images are presented as an orthophoto mosaic that is an alternative to a map. These images are higher in resolution (deci-meter) than satellite images, proving useful for those who want more details of the terrain such as crop conditions or land use. In addition, modern digital aerial photography is georeferenced—that is, each point has geographical coordinates, whereas satellite imagery requires georeferencing to be geographically accurate and compatible with other geographical data (for example, in GIS) (T. Jantunen, personal communication).
  • Laser scanning, or light detection and ranging (LiDAR), is an active airborne sensor using a set of laser beams to measure distance from an aircraft to features on the ground. Airplanes and helicopters can be used for laser scanning. The data from laser scanning are three-dimensional at very high accuracy, and they also allow ground elevation under the tree canopy to be measured. The elevation accuracy of laser scanning data is much better than aerial photography, which makes laser scanning useful for accurate topographic mapping where elevation is critical. The data can also be used to measure forest attributes such as the height and density of trees and thus the volume (aboveground biomass) of the forest(T. Jantunen, personal communication).

Role of ICT in Crop Production

http://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/nsp/m2m/images/prod-sv1-1.jpgThe rapid advancement in Information and  Communications Technologies (ICTs) has given rise to new applications that were impossible just few years ago. Agriculture is an important sector with the majority of the rural population in developing countries depending on it. The sector faces major challenges of enhancing production in a situation of dwindling natural resources necessary for production. ICT plays an important role in challenging and uplifting the livelihoods of the rural populace using an agro computer-based information system. This paper proposes an   Agro-Information System that enables a farmer to have relevant information about a crop, such as the varieties and other requirements like soil type, temperature, type and quantity of fertilizer, time of planting, time of maturity, planting distance, diseases, pest, pest and Disease control measures, rainfall, sunshine, etc. of that crop. The level of application of this information determines the volume and efficiency of the crop yield. An AIS software is designed and implemented which helps the farmer achieve the afore-mentioned objectives.                                                                                                        

ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning. ICTs are often spoken of in a particular context, such as ICTs in education, health care, or libraries. The term is somewhat more common outside of the United States.
According to the European Commission, the importance of ICTs lies less in the technology itself than in its ability to create greater access to information and communication in underserved populations. Many countries around the world have established organizations for the promotion of ICTs, because it is feared that unless less technologically advanced areas have a chance to catch up, the increasing technological advances in developed nations will only serve to exacerbate the already-existing economic gap between technological "have" and "have not" areas. Internationally, the United Nations actively promotes ICTs for Development (ICT4D) as a means of bridging the digital divide.