Rice Doctor for Bangladesh now being developed

Participants from IRRI and BRRI working on the Rice Doctor for Bangladesh.

Los Baños, Laguna – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in partnership with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), has started developing the Rice Doctor for Bangladesh in a workshop held on 16-18 December 2015 at the IRRI Training Center.

The main goal of the workshop was to prepare the initial structure and plans for a version of the Rice Doctor that would specifically cater to crop problems experienced in Bangladesh. Later on, the product would be translated to the local language, Bengali.

Participants from BRRI were introduced to the different components of the application and were encouraged to discover how these features can be adopted by extension workers and farmers in Bangladesh.

In his message, IRRI Director General Matthew Morell said that the workshop is a start rather than the end of a promising future for local extension in providing accurate diagnosis. It also contributes to forging a good collaboration with BRRI.

Md. Panna Ali, BRRI entomologist, said that the workshop was a good experience, especially in developing a product for farmers and extension workers in Bangladesh who are not able to easily reach and communicate with specialists.

The Rice Doctor for Bangladesh is not the first effort to localize the diagnostic app for crop problems, pests, and diseases. The Filipino version of the Rice Doctor for the Philippines is scheduled to be released soon for testing.

For more information on the Rice Doctor, please e-mail rkb@irri.org.

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