A knowledge sharing workshop between D.Net and DAE Officers

A knowledge sharing workshop was held on April 06, 2009 at D.Net office under Pallitathya Bikash programme. Officers from DAE (Department of Agriculture Extension) and BARI (Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute) and D.Net’s Pallitathya team attended in the workshop. The main purpose of the workshop was to share D.Net’s innovations and experiences on ICT for development especially on agriculture issues; how rural people are accessing agriculture information using ICTs from the Pallitathya Kendras (PKs); how the local agriculture officers can be a part of the whole process.

Pallitathya team shared the activities of D.Net, Pallitathya model, Jeeon (digital agriculture content) development process (both text and animation), multiple channels to deliver agriculture information to the rural people and the process of agriculture helpline operation. DAE officers shared their experiences and working flow at the grassroots. Finally opportunities of collaboration have been discussed among the participants. Upon fruitful discussion participants agreed to exchange their experiences and technical expertise through different training programmes, projects and knowledge management.

DAE officers emphasize to make a bridge between Deputy Assistant Agriculture officer and infomediaries of PKs. They are interested to participate in selecting locations of new PKs where they can contribute a lot. It has been discussed that the DAE officers may present as expert in the agriculture camps organise by Pallitathya Kendra in their working area regularly, they may allocate time to be present at PKs for live consultation on agriculture problems with the rural farmers. Infomediaries of PKs can communicate them directly for any consultation regarding farmers’ problem.